Contributor

When Gillian Lomax, who spent six years on radio KLOS's Breakfast with the Beatles, led her A Magical History Tour group to John Lennon's star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame next to Capitol Records on Vine Street on Oct. 5, she discovered that vandals had besmirched it with graffiti and scribbles, including a spotted toadstool, a smiley-face, "I love you," and "Blackbird... Rain was here."

Ray Dolby, the inventor and engineer whose surname became synonymous with high-quality cinema sound, died Sept. 12 at home in San Francisco at 80.

Sub Pop Records, the label noted for signing such bands as Nirvana, Soundgarden, The Shins and The Postal Service, celebrated its 25th anniversary with a Silver Jubilee concert in Seattle's bohemian Georgetown neighborhood on July 13. To honor the milestone, seminal grunge band Mudhoney became the first band ever to play the roof of the 600-plus-foot-tall Space Needle (on July 11), among other things.