1926 Jazz trombonist Urbie Green is born in Mobile, Alabama.
1923 Blues singer Jimmy Witherspoon is born in Gurdon, Arkansas.
1923 A fourteen-year-old clarinet player named Benny Goodman lands his first professional gig, playing for a cruise ship operating on Lake Michigan near Chicago.
1921 Country singer Webb Pierce is born in West Monroe, Louisiana. Known for the popular 1955 cover "In the Jailhouse Now."
1907 Jazz musician Benny Carter is born in Harlem, New York.
1857 Composer/pianist Cécile Chaminade is born in Paris, France.
The Beatles shoot the photo for their Abbey Road album cover at the crosswalk outside Abbey Road studios, where they are recording. Fans find many nested clues in the shot of the four band members walking in stride across the street, fuelling rumors that Paul McCartney is dead.
Read more1992 Opening for Guns N' Roses at a show in Montreal, James Hetfield of Metallica is injured by the pyrotechnics, which burn the entire left side of his body. Metallica can't continue, and Guns N' Roses cut their set short after just 15 minutes when Axl Rose leaves the stage, upset over monitor problems. A near riot ensues at Olympic Stadium as fans are not pleased.
1988 N.W.A., featuring Dr. Dre and Easy-E, release the Gangsta Rap classic Straight Outta Compton, which gets a lot of attention for its song "F--k Tha Police."
1980 The fantasy musical Xanadu, starring Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly, debuts to scathing reviews ("In a word, Xana-don't.") and inspires the Golden Raspberry Awards for the worst films of the year. But it has a killer soundtrack thanks to "Magic."More
1975 Hank Williams Jr. nearly meets his doom when he falls 500 feet down Ajax Mountain in Montana. He survives, but with some facial scars he will often cover with a hat, beard, and sunglasses.
1970 Enjoying some libations at a nearby bar before her concert at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York, Janis Joplin writes the song "Mercedes Benz," which she sings that night. Joplin does just one more show before her death.
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