19 MAY
In Music History
1972 Elton John releases Honky Chateau, which includes "Rocket Man." It becomes his first #1 album in America, igniting a run of six consecutive chart toppers.
1970 Rapper Prince Be (of P.M. Dawn) is born Attrell Cordes in Jersey City, New Jersey. His stepfather is Kool & the Gang's George Brown.
1964 Lawrence Wright dies in London. His death goes unreported by Melody Maker, the newspaper he founded in 1926.
1962 Iain Harvie (guitarist for Del Amitri) is born in Glasgow, Scotland.
1962 Mick Jagger is mentioned in print for the first time when the British music magazine Disc prints this item: "A 19-year-old Dartford rhythm-and-blues singer, Mick Jagger, has joined Alexis Korner's group, Blues Inc., and will sing with them regularly on their Saturday night dates at Ealing and Thursday session at the Marquee Jazz Club, London. Jagger, at present completing a course at the London School of Economics, also plays harmonica."
1961 The Everly Brothers form their Calliope Records label (its first release is Don performing "Pomp And Circumstance" as "Adrian Kimberly").
1960 Annette Funicello performs at Radio City Music Hall in New York, missing her high school graduation.
1960 The Drifters record "Save the Last Dance for Me."
1958 Ritchie Valens records "Come On, Let's Go," "Peggy Lee," and "Fever."
1954 Phil Rudd (drummer for AC/DC) is born Phillip Hugh Norman Witschke Rudzevecuis in Melbourne, Australia.
1954 Modernist composer Charles Ives dies of a stroke.
1952 '70s funk singer Barbara Joyce Lomas (of B.T. Express) is born in Bessemer, Alabama.
1949 Dusty Hill (bassist, keyboardist, co-vocalist of ZZ Top) is born Joseph Michael Hill in Dallas, Texas.
1948 Grace Jones is born in Spanish Town, Jamaica.
1948 Music journalist and Crawdaddy magazine founder Paul Williams is born in Boston, Massachusetts.
Marilyn Monroe Sings "Happy Birthday, Mr. President"
1962Less than three months before her death, Marilyn Monroe makes one of her last public appearances at President John F. Kennedy's 45th birthday celebration, where she famously sings "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" in his honor.
Read more19 MAY
Featured Events
2009 The first episode of the TV series Glee airs, featuring a Glee Club performance of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" that brings the song back to the charts. The Glee version lands at #4 - five spots higher than Journey's original.
1998 Sonny and Cher get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. For Sonny, who died January 5, 1998, it's a posthumous honor.
1993 Depeche Mode begin their Devotional tour in Lille, France. They reach new levels of excess on the trek, culminating with lead singer Dave Gahan having a heart attack during a show.More
1992 Billy Ray Cyrus releases his debut album, Some Gave All, featuring his signature song "Achy Breaky Heart." The album dominates the Billboard 200 chart for 17 consecutive weeks, and the single's music video spawns a line-dancing trend across the US, where a new breed of country music is already becoming a phenomenon. More
1951 Jeffrey Ross Hyman is born in Queens, New York. He forms the Ramones and takes the stage name Joey Ramone. At first, he's the drummer, but he becomes the lead singer when Dee Dee struggles to sing and play bass at the same time.
1945 Pete Townshend of The Who is born in Chiswick, United Kingdom.
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