April 10, 1962 Stu Sutcliffe, original bass guitarist for The Beatles, dies at age 21 of a brain aneurysm.
March 2, 1962 Jon Bon Jovi is born John Francis Bongiovi in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. As a teenager, he gets a gig cleaning up the studio his cousin Tony owns, which he uses to record demos and form the band Bon Jovi.
February 7, 1962 Garth Brooks is born Troyal Garth Brooks in Tulsa, Oklahoma; he's raised in Yukon, Oklahoma.More
February 6, 1962 Axl Rose, born William Bruce Rose, Jr., is born in Lafayette, Indiana (his stage name is an anagram for "Oral Sex"). Rose forms the band Guns N' Roses.
January 27, 1962 With "The Twist" at #1 in America, two San Francisco DJs sell out the Cow Palace in San Francisco with a "Twist Party" headlined by Chubby Checker.More
December 31, 1961 The Beach Boys perform live for the second time, appearing on a bill with Ike & Tina Turner at the Ritchie Valens memorial dance in Long Beach, California. They earn $300 for their efforts.
December 6, 1961 Keyboard player Jonathan Melvoin, who is on tour with Smashing Pumpkins when he dies of a drug overdose in 1996, is born in Los Angeles. He is the brother of Wendy Melvoin of Wendy & Lisa.
November 14, 1961 Before a show in Indianapolis, Ray Charles is arrested when marijuana and heroin are found in his hotel room. Charges are dropped on a technicality, but his drug problems were far from over.
October 29, 1961 Randy Jackson (of The Jackson 5) is born Steven Randall Jackson in Gary, Indiana. As the ninth child, he's both the youngest Jackson brother and youngest child in the family until baby sister Janet is born in 1966.
October 18, 1961 Mirisch Pictures releases the film version of the Broadway musical West Side Story, starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, and Rita Moreno. The soundtrack features music by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim - including the song "Somewhere," later recorded by Tom Waits, Aretha Franklin, Josh Groban, Kylie Minogue, and others.
September 29, 1961 The New York Times publishes a glowing review of a Bob Dylan performance, giving the 20-year-old upstart his first press in a major publication.More
August 25, 1961 Billy Ray Cyrus is born in Flatwoods, Kentucky. The "Achy Breaky Heart" singer is also known as dad to Hannah Montana alum Miley Cyrus.
June 14, 1961 Patsy Cline gets in a nasty car accident in Nashville, when she is thrown through the windshield. She is hospitalized for about a month, during which time she is visited by the woman who will become her protégé: Loretta Lynn.
April 25, 1961 Performing at Bloch Arena in Hawaii, Elvis Presley makes his last stage appearance for nearly eight years.
April 24, 1961 Bob Dylan makes his professional recording debut when he plays harmonica on the Harry Belafonte recording of "Midnight Special." Dylan makes $50 for the session.
April 13, 1961 Hiro Yamamoto (original bass player for Soundgarden) is born in Park Forest, Illinois.
January 29, 1961 Five days after arriving in New York from Minnesota, Bob Dylan meets his ailing folk hero, Woody Guthrie, tracking him down in East Orange, New Jersey. Dylan pays tribute with "Song To Woody," which appears on his first album the following year.More
January 19, 1961 The night before John F. Kennedy's inauguration, Frank Sinatra throws a star-studded gala to eradicate the Democratic Party's $2 million campaign debt. With the help of Peter Lawford, fellow Rat Packer and husband of JFK's sister Patricia, Sinatra enlists elite entertainers for the evening, including Nat King Cole, Harry Belafonte, Gene Kelly, Ethel Merman, and actors Laurence Olivier, Janet Leigh, Tony Curtis, and Bette Davis.More
December 24, 1960 Beryl Ingham Formby, wife and manager of George Formby, dies of leukemia at age 59.
October 27, 1960 Tina Turner gives birth to Ronald Renelle Turner, her second child, while touring in Los Angeles. The father, Ike Turner, is not present at the birth.
September 24, 1960 Hank Ballard and the Midnighters' "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go" enters the Hot 100, joining their songs "Finger Poppin' Time" and "The Twist" (the original version) on the chart. It's the first time an act has had three songs on the Hot 100 at the same time.
September 19, 1960 Chubby Checker's version of "The Twist" goes to #1 in America, while the original version by Hank Ballard & The Midnighters reaches its peak chart position of #28. Checker's version tops the chart again in 1962.
August 26, 1960 Jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis is born in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, to a family of musicians. He played sax and miscellaneous percussion on Sting's 1985 solo debut, The Dream of the Blue Turtles.
August 17, 1960 The Beatles start their run at the Indra Club in Hamburg, Germany, honing their skills with four-hour sets where they play lots of R&B covers along with their original songs.
June 8, 1960 Mick Hucknall (lead singer of Simply Red) is born in Manchester, England.
May 12, 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.
May 10, 1960 Paul Hewson is born in Dublin. He shortens his nickname from Bono Vox (Latin for "good voice") to simply Bono and fronts the band U2.More
May 9, 1960 The birth control pill is introduced in the US, inspiring Loretta Lynn to sing a song about it.More
April 10, 1960 Katrina Leskanich of Katrina & the Waves is born in Topeka, Kansas.
April 3, 1960 Working at RCA's Studio B in Nashville, Elvis Presley pulls an all-nighter, recording nine songs, finishing with "Are You Lonesome Tonight" in the wee hours of the morning. The mournful song becomes one of his biggest hits, going to #1 in America for six weeks.
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