Pick a Day

25 MAY

In Music History

2014 Two members of the Japanese girl group AKB48, along with a staff member, are attacked by a saw-wielding maniac during a meet-the-fans event. The victims are treated for cuts and fractures while the suspect is arrested for attempted murder.

2013 Clarence Burke Jr. (lead singer of The Five Stairsteps) dies at his home in Marietta, Georgia, from an undisclosed cause at age 64.

2013 Marshall Lytle (bassist for Bill Haley) dies of lung cancer at age 79.

2012 At a concert in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson interrupts a performance of "Stupid Girl" to call out a guy in the crowd who's being abusive. "Dude, never hit a woman," she tells him.

2011 Judas Priest perform "Living After Midnight" and "Breaking the Law" on American Idol with contestant James Durbin, a rare heavy metal showing on the program. It's the debut of guitarist Richie Faulkner in Judas Priest; he replaces K. K. Downing, who is having health problems.

2010 Nicole Scherzinger of The Pussycat Dolls wins Season 10 of Dancing With The Stars.

2008 Jet releases a YouTube video featuring their song "Shine On" that honors the life and work of Australian ophthalmologist Fred Hallows. It is estimated that Hallows' work in Australia and other developing nations has helped bring eyesight to over one million people. In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, lead singer Nic Chester said, "hopefully [the video] encourages people to make a donation to keep Fred's work going."

2006 Reggae singer-songwriter Desmond Dekker dies of a heart attack at age 64.

2005 Garth Brooks proposes to Trisha Yearwood in front of 7,000 fans during a show at Buck Owens's Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, California. The pair marry in December.

2005 Domenic Troiano (guitarist for The Guess Who, Bush) dies at age 59 after a ten-year battle with prostate cancer.

2004 Nineteen-year-old Avril Lavigne releases her second album, Under My Skin, with the hits "Don't Tell Me" and "My Happy Ending." It sells 3 million copies in America.

2004 In a letter to fans, Phish frontman Trey Anastasio says that after 21 years together, the band is splitting up. "We all love and respect Phish and the Phish audience far too much to stand by and allow it to drag on beyond the point of vibrancy and health. We don't want to become caricatures of ourselves, or worse yet, a nostalgia act." They wrap things up with a show in Coventry, Vermont, in August, but it is not the final curtain: In 2009, the band reunites.

2002 The mosh pit goes horribly wrong at an Eminem concert in Washington, D.C.'s RFK Stadium, and at least 25 people are injured.

2000 Alanis Morissette files with the SEC to sell about $1 million worth of her MP3.com stock, which she accumulated in a partnership with the company. The shares were worth about 10 times as much a year earlier, not long after Morissette signed on.

1998 "Ramsey Lewis Week" is declared in Chicago to honor the Grammy Award-winning jazz composer.