This Day In Music Search

American singer-songwriter Johnny Nash died of natural causes age 80. He is best known for his 1972 hit 'I Can See Clearly Now'. Primarily a reggae and pop singer, he was one of the first non-Jamaican artists to record reggae music in Kingston.

Eddie Van Halen, the revered guitarist and co-founder of the rock band Van Halen died at the age of 65, the Dutch-American musician had been receiving treatment for throat cancer. Halen, whose full name was Edward Lodewijk Van Halen, and his brother Alex Van Halen began performing together as teens, but formed the core of what would later become Van Halen after meeting David Lee Roth in the early seventies. Van Halen have sold more than 80 million worldwide, making them one of the best-selling groups of all time.

Larry Junstrom, a founding member of Lynyrd Skynyrd and longstanding bassist with the band .38 Special died at the age of 70. Junstrom played bass with Lynyrd Skynyrd from its formation in 1964 until he was replaced by Leon Wilkeson in 1971. He then joined .38 Special in 1976 with Donnie Van Zant, the younger brother of the Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Ronnie Van Zant.

Ginger Baker, the legendary drummer and co-founder of rock band Cream died at the age of 80. The drummer co-founded Cream in 1966 with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce. The band released four albums before splitting in 1968, after which he formed the short-lived band Blind Faith with Clapton, Steve Winwood and Ric Grech. Baker, one of the most innovative and influential drummers in rock music also played with Blind Faith, Hawkwind and Fela Kuti in a long and varied career. In 1962, joined Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated on the recommendation of Charlie Watts - who was leaving to join the Rolling Stones and later gained early fame as a member of the Graham Bond Organisation alongside bassist Jack Bruce.

Starship's 'We Built This City' was named 'the worst song of the 1980s' in a poll by Rolling Stone magazine. 'The Final Countdown' by the Swedish band Europe came in second and 'Lady in Red' by Chris de Burgh was third. Also making the top five were Wham!'s 'Wake Me Up (Before You Go Go)' and 'The Safety Dance' by Men Without Hats.

A set of John Lennon's fingerprints were seized by the FBI from a New York memorabilia dealer who intended to sell them for $100,000 (£62,621) minimum bid. The prints were taken at a New York police station in 1976 when Lennon applied for permanent US residence. The bureau believed the card was still government property and was investigating how it landed in private hands.

Queen's groundbreaking promo for their 1975 hit Bohemian Rhapsody was named the UK's best music video in a survey of music fans. Out of 1,051 adults polled by O2, 30% named the six-minute video, (which took only three hours to shoot and cost a mere £3,500 to make), their favourite.

Bruce Springsteen was being sued for $850,000 (£415,973) by a man who claimed he backed out of a contract to buy a horse. Springsteen and his wife Patti Scialfa were both named in legal documents filed in Florida by Todd Minikus. He claimed the couple pulled out of a deal to pay $650,000 (£358,097) for a horse, named Pavarotti.

A The Rolling Stones concert at the University of Virginia, in the US, was halted eight songs into the show at the Scott Stadium after police received a bomb threat targeting the stage area. A 45-minute police sweep of the area found nothing unusual, and the band completed the show. The Stones were touring to promote their latest album, 'A Bigger Bang.'

Britney Spears threw a full cup of cola over a photographer. The snapper was waiting to take pictures of the singer and her new husband outside a subway take-away shop in Malibu, California.

Manhattan Supreme Court sentenced rapper Busta Rhymes to five years probation after pleading guilty to a gun possession charge.

Winners at The Mobo Awards included Kele Le Roc, for best newcomer and best single. Shanks & Bigfoot won best dance act. TLC won best video for 'No Scrubs'. Lauryn Hill, won best International act and Tina Turner won a Lifetime Achievement Award.

A music industry poll was published by London Magazine 'Time Out', naming the top stars from the past 30 years. 5th place was Marvin Gaye, 4th; James Brown, 3rd; Bob Marley, 2nd; The Beatles and first place went to David Bowie

Michael Jackson gave away the bride at Elizabeth Taylor's seventh wedding, held at Jackson's Neverland Ranch. The Groom was construction worker Larry Fortensky, whom Taylor would divorce in 1997.

David Bowie scored his sixth UK No.1 album with 'Tonight', featuring the single 'Blue Jean'.

Madonna released her debut single 'Everybody' on Sire Records. The track failed to enter the Billboard Hot 100 chart, it did however, appear on the dance charts and the song helped Madonna achieve her first appearance in a dance magazine.

'Gotta Serve Somebody' gave Bob Dylan his twelfth US top 40 hit when it entered the chart for the first time. Recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, the song won Dylan the Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Male in 1980.

Led Zeppelin's In Through The Out Door was at No.1 on the US album chart. Six versions of the cover were released, each depicting the same bar scene photographed from one of six different angles.

Buzzcocks, supported by Joy Division appeared at the Odeon Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland, tickets £2.50

Australia’s ‘King of rock 'n' roll’ Johnny O’Keefe died aged 43 of a heart attack. He was the first Australian rock’n’roll performer to tour the United States, and Australia’s most successful chart performer, with 29 Top 40 hits between 1958 and 1974,. O’Keefe’s 1958 hit, ‘Real Wild Child’, was covered by Iggy Pop in 1986.

Cher started a two-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Half-Breed', the singer's second US No.1. The single which didn't chart in the UK was recorded with instrumental backing by L.A. sessions musicians from the Wrecking Crew.

During sessions at RCA Studios, New York City, David Bowie recorded 'The Jean Genie', which became the lead single from his 1973 album Aladdin Sane. The track spent 13 weeks in the UK charts, peaking at No.2, making it Bowie's biggest hit to date. The line "He's so simple minded, he can't drive his module" would later give the Scottish band Simple Minds their name.

George Harrison's song ’Something’ was released as the "A" side of a Beatles' 45, a first for Harrison. Along with Lennon and McCartney's 'Come Together', the single went on reach No.1 on the US chart the following month. Both tracks were lifted from the Abbey Road album.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded a session for the UK BBC radio show 'Top Gear.' Stevie Wonder who was also appearing on the show jammed with Hendrix.

Pink Floyd appeared at the Miss Teenage Brighton Contest, Top Rank Suite, Brighton, England, playing the musical interlude during the contest.

The Doors appeared at the Cal State Gymnasium, Los Angeles, California. With The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and The Sunshine Company.

The Beatles spent the afternoon recording 'Eight Days A Week' at Abbey Road studios in London. Late evening was spent at The Ad Lib Club, London, partying with The Ronettes and Mick Jagger.

Jerry Keller was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Here Comes Summer'. A One Hit Wonder, Keller went on to be a vocalist for television jingles throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

English hip hop musician Loyle Carner. He released his debut album, Yesterday's Gone, in 2017, which was nominated for the 2017 Mercury Prize. His fourth studio album, Hopefully!, was released in June 2025. Carner has been nominated for three Brit Awards.

American songwriter Steph Jones. She has written songs performed by artists including Sabrina Carpenter, Selena Gomez, Florence + The Machine, Celine Dion, Keith Urban, Shania Twain, Teddy Swims, Madi Diaz, and more. Jones co-wrote Sabrina Carpenter's 5 × platinum song 'Espresso'.

William Butler, synthesiser, bass, guitar, percussion the Grammy Award-winning indie rock band Arcade Fire, who had the 2005 album Funeral, and 2017 US No.1 album Everything Now.

American rock music drummer Patrick Keeler who is best known for playing in The Greenhornes, The Raconteurs, and The Afghan Whigs.

American heavy metal musician Donnie Steele best known as one of two original guitarists in Slipknot. Steele co-founded Slipknot in 1995, performing on the band's debut demo Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. He left the band in 1996.

Tommy Stinson, bassist with The Replacements one of the definitive American alternative rock groups. He joined Guns N' Roses. in 1998. He also formed Bash & Pop.

American alternative rock/power pop singer, songwriter and musician Matthew Sweet. He collaborated with R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe in a duo group under the name Community Trolls. Sweet and Susanna Hoffs released Under the Covers, Vol. 1, which featured covers of popular 1960s songs. Released in October 1991, Girlfriend is Sweet's most commercially and critically successful album to date.

Tim Burgess, drummer with T'Pau, who had the 1987 UK No.1 single 'China In Your Hand' and the 1987 US & UK No.4 single 'Heart And Soul', (which was initially a flop in the UK). T'Pau took their name from a Vulcan elder of the same name in the sci-fi series Star Trek.

Scottish singer Richard Jobson, who was the lead singer with the punk rock group Skids who had the 1979 UK No.10 single 'Into The Valley'. In 1983, Jobson later formed The Armoury Show, and from the mid-1980s, Jobson became a prolific frontman for music and arts programmes on the BBC, ITV and Sky.

Tim Mooney, drummer from the American, San Francisco-based indie rock band, American Music Club. Their sixth studio album Mercury which features a track called 'Johnny Mathis' Feet' became their highest charting album.

American singer-songwriter David Hidalgo from Los Lobos (Spanish for "the Wolves"), who had the 1987 UK & US No.1 single with their cover version of 'La Bamba', which was a 1958 hit for Ritchie Valens and one of early rock and roll's best-known songs.

Kevin Cronin, from American rock band REO Speedwagon, who had the 1981 US No.1's 'Keep On Loving You' and 'Can't Fight This Feeling'. They named the band REO Speedwagon, from the REO Speed Wagon, a flatbed truck.

Gavin Sutherland from the Scottish folk and soft rock duo The Sutherland Brothers, who had the 1976 UK No.5 single 'Arms Of Mary'. The Sutherland Brothers song 'Sailing' was recorded by Rod Stewart for his first album Atlantic Crossing, and was an international hit, notably in the UK, where it was No.1 for four weeks in September 1975.

American musician, guitarist, singer, songwriter Thomas McClary, from American funk/soul band, The Commodores, who had the 1978 UK & US No.1 single 'Three Times A Lady' as well as the hits 'Easy' and 'Nightshift'. McClary is widely credited with having created the signature sound of The Commodores' original music.

Aruban dancer, visual performer, singer Bobby Farrell, from German vocal group Boney M, who had the 1978 UK No.1 & US No.30 single 'Rivers Of Babylon' and with more than 150 million records sold, they are one of the best-selling artists of all time. Producer Frank Farian confirmed existing rumours that Farrell made no vocal contributions to the group's records, and Farian had performed the male parts in the studio. Farrell died of natural causes on 30th Dec 2010 at the age of 61. Coincidentally, he died 94 years to the exact day and in the same city as Grigori Rasputin, the subject of one of his group's most iconic songs and whom he had dressed as in some live performances.

Jamaican singer Millie Small (Millie), who scored the 1964 US & UK No.2 single 'My Boy Lollipop'. It remains one of the biggest-selling ska songs of all time, with more than seven million sales and was also the first major hit for Island Records, helping to achieve the label's mainstream success. She died on 5 May 2020, aged 72, after suffering a stroke.

British singer Robin Shaw, from the English pop group The Flowerpot Men. Created in 1967 as a result of the single 'Let's Go to San Francisco', recorded by session musicians, which became a major UK Top 20 and Continental Europe hit in the autumn of 1967.

Country music promoter Bob Neal, who managed Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Sonny James, and Tom T. Hall, among others. He organised live music events and set up Elvis Presley for his first live performance at Overton Park in Memphis, Tennessee, on July 30, 1954. Neal officially became Elvis Presley's second manager on January 1, 1955. He died on 9th May 1983, at the Park View Hospital in Nashville.