12 MAY
In Music History
1973 Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy goes to #1 in America.
1971 Mick Jagger marries his first wife, Bianca Perez-Mora, who is four months pregnant with their daughter, Jade, in St. Tropez, France. The couple divorce in 1978.
1969 Martin Lamble, drummer for Fairport Convention, dies at age 19 when the band's van crashes on the way home from a gig in Birmingham, England. Bandmate Richard Thompson's girlfriend, Jeannie Franklyn, is also killed.
1967 Procol Harum release "A Whiter Shade Of Pale."
1967 At a concert at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, Pink Floyd introduce an early version of quadraphonic sound, using a device to pan sound around the venue. There are also bubble machines, which get them banned from the hall for damaging the carpets.
1967 Archie Bell is drafted into the US Army.
1962 Bad Religion founder Brett Gurewitz is born in Los Angeles, California.
1961 Billy Duffy (guitarist for The Cult) is born in Hulme, Manchester, England.
1960 On Frank Sinatra's TV variety show, it's the Welcome Home Elvis special to honor The King, who was recently discharged from the US Army. The famous singers perform a medley of "Love Me Tender" and "Witchcraft" together.
1959 Eddie Fisher marries actress Elizabeth Taylor. They get divorced in 1964.
1959 Ray Gillen (of Black Sabbath, Badlands) is born in New York City, but raised in Cliffside Park, New Jersey.
1958 The movie Let's Rock, with Paul Anka, Danny & the Juniors and The Royal Teens, opens.
1958 The Everly Brothers' "All I Have to Do Is Dream" hits #1 for the first of five weeks.
1955 Kix Brooks (of Brooks & Dunn) is born Leon Eric Brooks in Shreveport, Louisiana.
1950 John "Jocko" Marcellino (of Sha Na Na) is born in Quincy, Massachusetts.
Astronaut Plays "Space Oddity" In Space
2013After the Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield records the David Bowie song "Space Oddity" on board the International Space Station, his sublime rendition is posted to YouTube, quickly garnering millions of views.
Read more12 MAY
Featured Events
2000 Following the launch of Metallica's legal case against the popular online file-sharing service Napster, Chuck D of Public Enemy and Lars Ulrich of Metallica appear on The Charlie Rose Show, where they debate whether MP3 downloading is a vehicle for piracy or a return of power to the people.More
1984 Lionel Richie's "Hello," a song inspired by his younger years when he was too shy to talk to the ladies, goes to #1 in America.
1977 The Sex Pistols sign with Virgin Records for £15,000 after being dropped by both EMI and A&M. This one takes, and Virgin issues their landmark album, Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols. "I've always liked Richard Branson because, pompous rich t--t that he is, he has a great sense of rebelliousness," lead singer Johnny Rotten says.
1972 The Rolling Stones release Exile On Main Street, a landmark double album recorded primarily at a villa in France, where the group is living to avoid British taxes (they are "tax exiles," thus the album name).
1967 The first Jimi Hendrix album, Are You Experienced?, is released. Songs include "Foxy Lady," "Hey Joe" and "Purple Haze."
1963 Bob Dylan refuses to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show when they won't let him play "Talkin' John Birch Society Blues."More
1929 Burt Bacharach is born in Kansas City, Missouri.More
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