15 JUNE
In Music History
1989 The Offspring's self-titled debut album is released only on vinyl. A CD and cassette reissue are eventually released in 1995.
1988 "If You Wanna Be Happy" singer Jimmy Soul dies of a heart attack at age 45 after years of drug use takes its toll.
1981 Billy Martin (guitarist/keyboardist for Good Charlotte) is born in Annapolis, Maryland.
1979 Unknown Pleasures, the debut long-player from British post-punk band Joy Division, is released. Although it does not chart, it becomes hugely influential and is widely critically acclaimed as one of the defining albums of the post-punk era.More
1977 Former 5th Dimension singers Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. host a summer TV variety series on CBS. They are the first African American married couple to host a network television series.
1976 Dryden Mitchell (frontman for Alien Ant Farm) is born in Redondo Beach, California.
1969 Ice Cube is born O'Shea Jackson in South Central Los Angeles. He makes his mark in the pioneering rap group N.W.A before launching a solo career and becoming a movie star, first in Boyz N The Hood and later in the Friday and Barbershop movies.
1966 Rob Mitchell (drummer for Sixpence None the Richer) is born.
1966 Michael Britt (lead guitarist for Lonestar) is born in Fort Worth, Texas.
1963 Scott Rockenfield (drummer for Queensrÿche) is born in Seattle, Washington.
1956 Bernie Shaw (lead vocalist for Uriah Heep) is born in Victoria, British Columbia.
1954 Country singer Terri Gibbs is born in Miami, Florida, but raised in Grovetown, Georgia. Known for the hit 1980 single "Somebody's Knockin'."
1951 Steve Walsh (singer, keyboardist for Kansas, Streets) is born in St Joseph, Missouri.
1949 Russell Hitchcock, lead singer of Air Supply, is born in Melbourne, Australia. The group has a string of soft-rock hits in the early '80s that includes "The One That You Love" and "Making Love Out Of Nothing At All."
1946 Janet Lennon (of The Lennon Sisters) is born in Los Angeles, California.
The Lion King Roars Into Theaters
1994The Disney film The Lion King hits theaters. A runaway hit, the movie takes in over $300 million in 1994, second only to Forrest Gump. The soundtrack goes Diamond, meaning over 10 million copies sold - a record for the soundtrack to an animated film.
Read more15 JUNE
Featured Events
2017 Jay-Z becomes the first rapper inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
2016 Jimmy Page takes the stand in a trial where he is accused of stealing part of the song "Taurus" for the intro to "Stairway To Heaven." Led Zeppelin played on the same bills with the band Spirit, who performed "Taurus" in their sets, but Page says he never heard that song before writing "Stairway." The jury rules in favor of Led Zeppelin.
1999 After a seven-year recording hiatus, Santana release the album Supernatural, which goes to #1 thanks to hit singles like "Smooth," "Maria Maria," and "Put Your Lights On." It's their first chart-topping album in 28 years.More
1996 The Beastie Boys host the first Tibetan Freedom Concert, with performers that include Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins and John Lee Hooker. About 100,000 attend the two shows, raising money for the Milarepa Fund.More
1989 Nirvana's debut album, Bleach, is released, with a cover tune as its lead single.More
1986 At Giants Stadium in New Jersey, The Police headline the last concert on the Conspiracy of Hope tour, which benefits Amnesty International. They have plans to record an album, but scrap them after drummer Stewart Copeland is injured in a polo match. The trio does not tour again until 2007.
1967 Peter Green leaves John Mayall's Bluesbreakers to form Fleetwood Mac. He hires Mick Fleetwood, but it takes John McVie four months to leave The Bluesbreakers and join the band named after him.
©2026 Songfacts®, LLC