In 1938, singer Ray Eberle signed on as vocalist with the Glenn Miller Orchestra for $35 a week. His first hit single with the band was "My Reverie," which peaked at #11 late in 1938. His second featured vocal with Miller was on the more successful "Wishing (Will Make It So)," #1 for four weeks the following year.
In 1940, Frank Sinatra, the Pied Pipers (with Jo Stafford) and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra recorded "I'll Never Smile Again," which went on to spend 12 weeks at #1.
In 1958, Patti Page released the single "Left Right Out Of Your Heart."
In 1960, Cadence Records, the Everly Brothers' former label, released two of their 1959 recordings on the single "When Will I Be Loved" b/w "Be-Bop-A-Lula."
In 1963, Paul Revere and the Raiders sign with Columbia Records where they will have 14 Billboard Top 40 singles between 1965 and 1971.
In 1963, Millie Small's "My Boy Lollipop," already a hit in the UK, enters the Hot 100 where it will stay for 12 weeks, climbing to #2.
In 1963, singer/songwriter/bandleader Eddy Howard, who sang with Ben Bernie and Dick Jurgens before starting his own band, died from a cerebral hemorrhage at age 48.
In 1964, Ella Fitzgerald had the first hit with a Beatles cover when "Can't Buy Me Love" reached #34 in the U.K.
In 1965, the Bachelors sang "Marie" and "I Believe" on CBS-TV's "The Ed Sullivan Show."
In 1967, Pink Floyd went into the studio and recorded “See Emily Play,” the group’s second single and written by original frontman Syd Barrett.
In 1970, the Grateful Dead played their first gig outside the US at The Hollywood Rock Music Festival, in Newcastle under Lyme, Staffs, England.
In 1970, Paul McCartney's debut solo album, 'McCartney,' started a three-week run at the top of the Billboard Hot 200, while the Beatles' LP 'Let It Be' was #1 on the UK album chart.
In 1971, the rock group Iron Butterfly played their final show and disbanded. They re-formed in 1974 and, except for a brief break between late 1985 and early 1987, the group has continued to this day.
In 1973, Jefferson Airplane were prevented from giving a free concert in Golden Gate Park when San Francisco authorities passed a resolution banning electronic instruments. The group later wrote “We Built this City” about the ban.
Also in 1973, Clive Davis is fired as president of Columbia Records. He was allegedly using company funds for private use, including $53,700 worth of alterations to his apartment and $20,000 for his son's bar mitzvah.
In 1974, George Harrison announced the launch of Dark Horse, his own record label.
In 1975, Led Zeppelin started a three-night run at Earl’s Court, London, England. Tickets cost £1 ($1.70) - £2.50 ($4.25).
In 1977, Jefferson Starship had to cancel their planned free concert in Golden Gate Park after the city of San Francisco banned electric instruments from all free outdoor concerts. Inspired in part by this event, Bernie Taupin, Martin Page, Dennis Lambert, and Peter Wolf wrote "We Built This City," a #1 single for Starship eight years later.
In 1977, Engelbert Humperdinck's "After the Lovin'" album was certified Platinum.
In 1978, at Shea's Buffalo in Buffalo, New York, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band began the 117-date Darkness Tour, their first major tour.
In 1979, after his record label, ABC, was sold to MCA, Tom Petty filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
In 1979, Sister Sledge's "We Are Family" goes Platinum. The album's title track, a #2 hit last month, is the rallying call for baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates, who will go on to win the 1979 World Series in October.
In 1982, in the UK, the musicians union tried to ban synthesizers and drum machines.
In 1987, twelve former members of The Doobie Brothers reunited for a charity concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. The show raised $350,000 for Vietnam veterans, about two-thousand of whom attended the show for free.
In 1991, "I Don't Wanna Cry" by Mariah Carey was the #1 song.
In 1992, the will of the late Freddie Mercury bequeathed the majority of the Queen singer's $17 million estate to Mary Austin, his longtime companion.
In 1993, jazz guitarist Joe Pass, who recorded six albums with Ella Fitzgerald and was a sideman with Louis Bellson, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Joe Williams, Della Reese, and Johnny Mathis, died of liver cancer at age 65.
In 2001, record producer/arranger/keyboardist Tommy Eyre died of cancer at the age of 51. He worked with George Harrison, Wham! Dusty Springfield, and B.B. King. Eyre played on and arranged Joe Cocker's "With A Little Help From My Friends" and Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street."
In 2002, U2's Walk On won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song while Mick Hucknall won for Best Song Collection and Kate Bush was given Outstanding Contribution to British Music.
In 2006, the King of Sweden presented the surviving members of Led Zeppelin with the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm recognizing them as “great pioneers” of rock music. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were joined by the daughter of drummer John Bonham, who died in 1980. The Polar Music Prize was founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, manager of Swedish pop group ABBA, who named it after his record label, Polar Records previous winners include Sir Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and producer Quincy Jones.
In 2007, the first Gershwin Award was given by the US Library of Congress to Paul Simon, for being a "performer whose lifetime contributions exemplify the standard of excellence associated with the Gershwins."
In 2009, Amy Winehouse cancelled her appearance at a concert to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Island Records. The event, scheduled to take place on 31st May at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire, had now been cancelled completely, her management said.
In 2010, the Rolling Stones scored their first UK #1 album for 16 years with the re-release of their classic 1972 double LP 'Exile On Main Street.' The album, which was first released in 1972, had been reissued with previously unheard tracks. Their last #1 album was 1994's 'Voodoo Lounge.'
In 2012, Erasmus MC University Medical Center in the Netherlands announced they had drawn clear links between listening to loud music, smoking marijuana and having "risky" sex. The study, published in the Official Journal of the American Academy Of Pediatrics, revealed that young people who listened to loud music on their MP3 players were more likely to have sparked up a joint in the last month. The researchers, surveyed 944 students from inner-city vocational schools aged 15 to 25.
In 2013, during court proceedings for Michael Jackson's wrongful death trial, a stage manager testified that he warned an AEG executive just five days before the star's death that he was in a physical and mental decline.
