Pick a Day

13 MAY

In Music History

2004 In an Australian radio interview, Gene Simmons of Kiss states of Islam: "This is a vile culture, and if you think for a second that it's willing to just live in the sands of God's armpit you've got another thing coming... they want to come and live right where you live and they think that you're evil." After a flood of angry calls from Muslims, Simmons claims he was speaking only of extremists.

2003 Tommy Chong of Cheech & Chong pleads guilty to selling drug paraphernalia over the Internet.

2003 Michael Jackson sues Motown records for alleged nonpayment of Jackson 5 royalties and unauthorized usage of the group's music in TV commercials.

2002 Eddie Money appears on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens in the aptly titled episode "Eddie Money."

2002 Dionne Warwick is arrested at Miami International Airport for possession of marijuana when screeners find 11 marijuana cigarettes inside a lipstick container. Charges are dropped after she does an anti-drug public service announcement.

2000 Britney Spears is the musical guest and host on Saturday Night Live, where she performs two songs and appears in four sketches. In her opening monologue, she addresses rumors that she's had implants. "I'm 18 and still growing," she says, as her breasts move around in her shirt.

1997 Oprah Winfrey, who has been following Tina Turner's Wildest Dreams tour for her talk show and doing giveaways along the way, joins Turner on stage at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles to perform "The Best." It's not easy for Oprah; during rehearsals, Turner tells her, "You really don't have any rhythm, do you?"

1994 "Black Hole Sun" is released as the second single off Soundgarden's album Superunknown.

1993 Country singer Morgan Wallen is born in Sneedville, Tennessee.

1988 Jazz trumpeter and vocalist Chet Baker dies at age 58 after falling from a second floor window at a hotel in Amsterdam, Netherlands. An autopsy reveals traces of heroin and cocaine in his body, and the death is ruled an accident.

1981 Pop singer Joan Weber, known for the 1955 hit "Let Me Go, Lover!," dies of heart failure in a New Jersey mental institution at age 45.

1981 Filmmaker James Szalapski releases his Outlaw Country documentary Heartworn Highways. The film follows numerous musicians, including David Allan Coe, Charlie Daniels, Steve Earle, Guy Clark, and Townes Van Zandt.

1978 Just days after breaking his leg in a softball game, Jimmy Buffett appears on Saturday Night Live for the first and only time, singing "Son Of A Son Of A Sailor" with his injured limb propped up on an old boat.

1977 Rapper Pusha T is born Terrence Thornton in New York City. He forms the group Clipse before emerging as a solo artist.

1977 Hustler magazine offers Linda Ronstadt (and nine other celebrities) $1 million to pose nude in the magazine. She declines.