26 OCTOBER
In Music History
1967 Keith Urban is born in Whangarei, Northland, New Zealand.
1966 English pop singer Alma Cogan dies of ovarian cancer at age 34.
1966 Songwriter J.M. Robinson (Jessie Mae Robinson) dies at her Los Angeles home aged just 48.
1965 The Beatles are awarded Members of the British Empire (MBE) medals from Queen Elizabeth II in a ceremony held at Buckingham Palace. John Lennon claims they smoked marijuana in the bathroom before receiving the awards, although George Harrison said it was just tobacco. Harrison and Paul McCartney put the awards on their jackets for the Sgt. Pepper album cover; Lennon sends his back in 1969.
1964 The Beatles record "Honey Don't" for their Beatles For Sale album after the song's writer, Carl Perkins, visits them in the studio. They also record "What You're Doing," and Another Beatles Christmas Record (a cover of "Jingle Bells," along with holiday greetings to fans).
1963 Natalie Merchant (lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs) is born in Jamestown, New York.
1961 Bob Dylan signs with Columbia Records, his first recording contract.
1961 Elvis Presley records "A Whistling Tune," "Home Is Where The Heart Is," and "Riding The Rainbow."
1958 The first rock concert in Germany is held in Berlin, and it doesn't go well, as agitated youth fight during a performance by Bill Haley and his Comets. By the time police clear the Berlin Sportpalast, where the concert is held, five policemen and six audience members are seriously injured.
1953 Keith Strickland of The B-52s is born in Athens, Georgia.
1952 David Was (of Was (Not Was)) is born David Weiss in Detroit, Michigan.
1951 Bootsy Collins is born William Earl Collins in Cincinnati, Ohio. The bass player will rise to prominence as a member of James Brown's backing band in the '70s before joining Funkadelic.
1946 Keith Hopwood (rhythm guitarist for Herman's Hermits) is born in Manchester, England.
1944 Michael Piano (of The Sandpipers) is born in Rochester, New York.
1934 Cole Porter records "You're The Top."
P-Funk's Mothership Makes First Landing
1976The Mothership, a lander that descends to the stage when the band play "Mothership Connection," appears for the first time during P-Funk's show at the Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans.
Read more26 OCTOBER
Featured Events
2010 Keith Richards releases his autobiography, Life. His drug use is a big topic - here's a quote: "I loved a good high. And if you stay up, you get the songs that everyone else misses because they're asleep."
2002 Jessica Simpson marries Nick Lachey of the boy band 98 Degrees. The union lasts three years and is the subject of the MTV reality series Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica.
1993 Michael Jackson is awarded a patent for the system that allows him to lean in unnatural angles during performances of "Smooth Criminal." To recreate the video on stage, Jackson and his dancers wore special shoes that they could insert into pegs set up on stage for the famous lean.More
1985 Whitney Houston scores her first #1 on the Hot 100 when "Saving All My Love For You" reaches the top spot. She goes on a remarkable run, with her next six singles all topping the chart.
1973 The Who release Quadrophenia in the UK (the American debut is a week later). Like their 1969 album Tommy, it is a rock opera, this time centered on the character Jimmy, a mod on a search for meaning.
1970 Elton John releases "Your Song," which becomes his first hit.
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