1923 - Joe Oliver and King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, featuring a young Louis Armstrong, make the first jazz recordings by an African American band at Gennett Records in rural Richmond, Indiana.
1961 - On The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet episode "A Question of Suits and Ties," Ricky Nelson sings "Travelin' Man" in what some consider the first music video.
1964 - The Beatles film the famous opening scene from their first movie, A Hard Day's Night, running away from rabid female fans at London's Marylebone train station.
1967 - Monkees fans march in London in protest of band member Davy Jones' announced induction into military service. The teen heartthrob is eventually exempted from duty for being his family's main provider.
1968 - With tensions high the night after Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated, James Brown goes ahead with his concert at the Boston Garden, agreeing to televise the show to help keep calm. It does.
1969 - The Guess Who's "These Eyes" enters the Billboard singles chart.
1971 - Chicago is the first American rock band to perform at Carnegie Hall.
1975 - Minnie Riperton's "Lovin' You," with arguably the most famous vocal high note of the '70s, is the #1 hit in the US.
1977 - David Bowie and Iggy Pop perform together on Dinah Shore's daytime show on NBC.
1978 - Duran Duran play their first live gig, in Birmingham, England. Singer Stephen Duffy leaves the band two years later and is replaced by Simon Le Bon, shortly before the band are signed to EMI Records.
1984 - Marvin Gaye's funeral takes place in Los Angeles, with Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones and Berry Gordy in attendance.
1985 - Thousands of American radio stations play "We Are The World" simultaneously at 10:50 a.m. EST. In the next few weeks, the song goes to #1 in the US and the UK.
1987 - Jazz drummer Buddy Rich's funeral takes place in Los Angeles, with Frank Sinatra, Artie Shaw, and Johnny Carson in attendance.
1988 - Tracy Chapman's self-titled debut album is released.
1994 - Kurt Cobain of Nirvana dies of an apparent self-inflicted shotgun wound at age 27. His body isn't discovered until three days later when an electrician enters to install an alarm.
On the eleventh anniversary of his death, his hometown of Aberdeen, Washington adds the phrase "Come As You Are" to its welcome sign.
1998 - Prolific rock drummer Cozy Powell, who did time in Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and ELP with Keithe Emerson and Greg Lake, dies at 50 when he crashes his car on a highway near Bristol, England.
2002 - Alice In Chains frontman Layne Staley dies after overdosing on heroin and cocaine. Having lost much contact with the outside world, the 34-year-old singer's body wasn't discovered until two weeks later, when police enter his apartment on April 19 after his parents were notified that his daily bank withdrawl had ceased for 2 weeks.
2006 - Rock and roll singer-songwriter Gene Pitney dies of a heart attack at age 66 while touring the UK.
2008 - Leona Lewis hits #1 in the US with "Bleeding Love", her first American hit.
2011 - Folk musician Gil Robbins of The Highwaymen (and father of actor/director Tim Robbins) dies of prostate cancer two days after his 80th birthday in Baja California, Mexico.
2012 - The Philip Lynott Exhibition opens at the 02 in London, celebrating the legacy of the Thin Lizzy frontman.
2017 - Trans-Siberian Orchestra founder Paul O'Neill is found dead in a Tampa, Florida hotel room. The band announces the 61-year-old rocker died from a chronic illness.
That same day, at the age of 73, Barry Manilow comes out as gay.
2019 - The Aretha Franklin documentary Amazing Grace is finally released in theaters, 47 years after it was filmed in 1972.
Today’s Birthdays include…vocalist Allan Clarke of The Hollies (79); tropical artist Willy Chirino (74); Abba’s Agnetha Fältskog (71); a couple of drummers: Les Binks, formerly of Judas Priest and Everett Morton of The English Beat (both 70); a couple of singers/songwriters: Peter Case, and Stan Ridgway of Wall of Voodoo fame (both 67); Christopher "Kid" Reid, of Kid ’n Play (57); Pearl Jam lead guitarist Mike McCready (55); singer/songwriter Paula Cole (53); Miho Hatari of Cibo Matto (51); Mr. Happy himself, Pharrell Williams (48); and How To Destroy Angels vocalist Mariqueen Maandig Reznor (40).
