1960, Drummer Tommy Moore made the fateful decision to quit The Beatles and return to his job of driving a forklift at Garston bottle works. He was briefly replaced by Norman Chapman, who was called into National Service after just three gigs. After going drummerless and mostly jobless for a few weeks, the band hired Pete Best on August 12th, only one day before they were to go to Hamburg to play a string of club dates.
1962, The Beatles recorded a BBC radio program, “Here We Go”, at the Playhouse Theatre in Manchester, in front of a studio audience composed largely of loyal Cavern fans. This was the last recording on which Pete Best played drums.
1966, The Rolling Stones started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Paint It, Black’, the group’s third US No.1 single. Also a No.1 in the UK, it was the first No.1 single to feature a sitar on the recording.
1966, European radio stations mistakenly reported that The Who’s lead singer Roger Daltrey was dead. Actually, it was guitarist Pete Townshend who had been injured in a car accident a few days earlier.
1967, Printed in this week’s music weekly Melody Maker’s ad’s pages, ‘Freaky lead guitarist, bass and drummer wanted for Marc Bolan’s new group. Also any other astral flyers like with car’s amplification and that which never grows in window boxes, phone Wimbledon 0697.’ The band who formed as Tyrannosaurus Rex, went on to release four underground folk albums before becoming known as T. Rex.
1969, The Beatles were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘The Ballad Of John and Yoko’ the group’s 17th UK No.1. The only two Beatles that played on the track were John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
1977, Joe Strummer and Topper Headon were detained overnight in prison in Newcastle upon Tyne having failed to appear at Morpeth Magistrates on May 21st. Both The Clash members were to answer a charge relating to the theft of a Holiday Inn pillowcase. They were both fined £100 ($170).
1977, KC and the Sunshine Band became only the second group after The Jackson Five to achieve four US No.1’s when ‘I’m Your Boogie Man’ went to the top of the charts.
1988, Nelson Mandellas 70th birthday tribute took place at Wembley Stadium, London, featuring Whitney Houston, Phil Collins, Dire Straits, Stevie Wonder, Tracy Chapman, George Michael, Eric Clapton, UB40, The Eurythmics and Simple Minds. The event was broadcast live on BBC 2 to 40 different countries with an estimated audience of 1 billion.
1997, Simply Red singer Mick Hucknall received a Master of Science Degree at UMIST, Manchester for his fund-raising work following an IRA bombing in the city the previous year.
2000, Aaliyah went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Try Again’. It became the first “airplay-only” song to reach No.1 on the US singles chart (no points from a commercial single release).
2002, Sir Paul McCartney married Heather Mills at St Salvator Church, Ireland. Guests included Ringo Starr, David Gilmour, Jools Holland and Chrissie Hynde. Heather walked down the aisle clutching a bouquet of 11 ‘McCartney’ roses. Mills had first met McCartney at the Pride of Britain Awards event in London in April 1999, which McCartney had attended to present an award to an animal rights activist. Mills and McCartney separated on 17 May 2006 and when divorced Mills was eventually awarded a lump sum of £16.5m, together with assets of £7.8m.
2003, Adam Ant was arrested after going berserk and stripping off in a London cafe. The former 1980s pop star had thrown stones at neighbour’s homes smashing windows before going to the nearby cafe.
2004, Courtney Love surrendered to US police after allegedly assaulting a woman at the home of her former manager and ex-boyfriend. Ms Love was charged with assault with a deadly weapon. She was later released on bail. The charges related to an incident on 25 April 2004, when Ms Love allegedly assaulted a woman with a bottle and a torch at the LA home of Jim Barber.
2005, Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin founding member and guitarist, was awarded an OBE in the Queen of England’s Birthday Honours list and Queen guitarist and founding member Brian May was awarded a CBE.
2008, The American Federation of Musicians filed a federal lawsuit against the producers of American Idol, claiming musicians were underpaid because the show’s live music was re-recorded for re-runs. The union filed the suit seeking unspecified damages in the US District Court in Los Angeles, alleging that American Idol Productions Inc. and its subsidiary Tick Tock Productions Inc. violated a collective bargaining agreement.
2009, Peter Doherty was released on £50,000 bail to await trial accused of driving dangerously after a gig. The Babyshambles frontman was stopped after police saw a car being driven erratically in Gloucester. The 30-year-old appeared at Stroud Magistrates’ Court and pleaded guilty to possessing heroin and to having no driving licence or insurance.
2011, Pink Floyd’s 1973 album The Dark Side Of The Moon, re-entered the Billboard Album chart at No. 47, and reached the milestone of 1,000 weeks on Billboard’s charts. The album which was released in 1973 has done consistently well reaching No.1 on more than one occasion. The Dark Side Of The Moon
2015, The Kinks’ front man and principle song writer Ray Davies was awarded with a London Legend Award at a ceremony held at the Camden Roundhouse. Davies said: “I accept this on behalf of all the young writers coming through, all the young people embarking on careers and as a symbol of the future.”
2016, Singer Christina Grimmie, who had competed on the US TV programme The Voice, died of her wounds after being shot in Florida. A man opened fire on her when she was signing autographs after a concert in Orlando. The assailant who was tackled by Ms Grimmie’s brother, then shot and killed himself. The 22-year-old singer died in a local hospital.
