4 MAY
In Music History
1979 Lance Bass of 'N Sync is born James Lance Bass in Laurel, Mississippi.
1979 Bob Dylan records "Gotta Serve Somebody," "Do Right To Me Baby (Do Unto Others)," "When He Returns," and "Man Gave Names To All The Animals."
1978 Jefferson Starship's album Earth is certified Platinum.
1972 Green Day bass player Mike Dirnt is born Michael Pritchard in Berkeley, California, where he is adopted by a couple from nearby El Sobrante.
1972 Christian singer Chris Tomlin is born in Grand Saline, Texas.
1970 Gregg Alexander of The New Radicals is born Gregory Aiuto in Grosse Pointe, Michigan.
1969 Al Stewart and his girlfriend Mandi attend a party at the Putney home of John Martyn which inspires the song "Night Of The 4th Of May."
1968 Twiggy, one of the first English "supermodels," catches an 18-year-old Welsh singer named Mary Hopkin on the BBC-TV talent show Opportunity Knocks. She calls her friend Paul McCartney, who eventually signs Hopkin to Apple and has her record "Those Were The Days" as her first single.
1968 Steppenwolf make their US television debut, performing "Born to Be Wild" on American Bandstand.
1967 The Turtles' "Happy Together" is certified Gold.
1964 Denny Laine, Ray Thomas and Mike Pinder form the M&B Five in Birmingham, England. They later change the name to The Moody Blues.
1964 Gary Holt (guitarist for Exodus) is born in Richmond, California.
1961 The Jarmels record "A Little Bit Of Soap."
1960 Bobby Rydell takes American Bandstand viewers on a tour of his Philadelphia home.
1959 Country singer-songwriter Randy Travis is born Randy Bruce Traywick in Marshville, North Carolina.
Four Dead In Ohio
1970Later memorialized in the Neil Young song "Ohio," the Ohio National Guard fires on protesters at Kent State University, killing four students, two of whom weren't even protesting. This shameful event in American history leads to the formation of Devo, as Mark Mothersbaugh and Jerry Casale are both on campus and horrified by the events.
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Featured Events
2012 Adam Yauch (aka MCA of the Beastie Boys) dies of cancer at age 47 in New York City.
1999 Former In Living Color Fly Girl Jennifer Lopez issues her first single, "If You Had My Love." The song lands at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Lopez the first artist to top the chart with a debut single since Britney Spears did the same with "...Baby One More Time" four months earlier.More
1990 David Bowie's ex-wife Angela goes on The Joan Rivers Show and says that she once walked in on Bowie and Mick Jagger naked in bed. Angela signed a gag order when she divorced Bowie that kept her from talking for 10 years, and was taking advantage of the opportunity.
1982 Under the leadership of chairman Elton John, who has invested heavily in the team, the Watford Football Club is promoted to the First Division of English football with a win over Wrexham. The team was in the lowly Fourth Division when Elton took over as chairman in 1976.
1974 The Sting soundtrack, featuring Marvin Hamlisch's adaptations of Scott Joplin's ragtime piano tunes, hits #1 in America, where it stays for five weeks.
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1974 Grand Funk's cover of "The Loco-Motion" hits #1 in America. It's the second time the song has topped the chart: Little Eva's original went to #1 in 1962.
1959 The very first Grammy Awards are held in Los Angeles, with Record of the Year going to Domenico Modugno's "Nel Blu, Dipinto di Blu (Volare)" and Henry Mancini's The Music From Peter Gunn soundtrack winning Album of the Year. The Champs' "Tequila," for some reason, takes home Best Rhythm and Blues Performance.
1937 Surf rock guitarist Dick Dale is born Richard Anthony Monsour in Boston, Massachusetts.
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