2005 – A cross-party collective of British politicians close the gap between parliament and the music business through a pair of initiatives. The four members of parliament make history with the release of their first download through London-based major record company EMI. Funds raised from the track _ a cover of the Beatles’ chart-topping 1964 song “Can’t Buy Me Love” _ are to be donated to the Save the Children charity.
2005 Ñ Luther Vandross are dies at John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, N.J., two years after suffering a serious stroke. He is 54.
2002 – R&B pioneer Rosco Gordon dies after suffering a hear attack at his Queens, N.Y. home. He is 68.
2001 – Herman Brood, one of Holland’s best-known rock personalities commits suicide. He is 54. The singer/pianist/painter jumps from the roof of the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel. On his body, police find a note saying people should make “a party out of it all.” The note goes on to say that Brood “didn’t feel like it anymore.”
2000 – James Hill, baritone singer of the Grammy-winning gospel vocal group the Fairfield Four, dies in Nashville of complications from diabetes. He is 83.
1999 – Helen Forrest, often called the best of the big band singers, dies of congestive heart failure at the Motion Picture Country Home and Hospital in Woodland Hills. She is 82.
1998 – MTV airs “Beastiography,” a special profiling the Beastie Boys.
1998 – Western harmony group Riders in the Sky use their Grand Ole Opry appearance to pay tribute to the late Roy Rogers. Ranger Doug, Woody Paul and Joey the Cowpolka King play softly in the background during a spoken tribute delivered by Too Slim. “Even the horse knew he was the King of the Cowboys. Long live the King,” Slim says.
1996 – While in St. Louis, Mo., folky hip-hopper Beck performs a surprise acoustic set on Lollapalooza ’96’s second stage.
1996 – Musician Louis Gottlieb dies at the age of 73.
1995 – R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills undergoes abdominal surgery in Germany in the midst of the band’s European tour.
1993 – Instrumentalist and bandleader Mario Bauza dies of cancer in New York at age 82. Bauza helped introduce Latin music to the United States and create the influential fusion of Afro-Cuban and jazz. He also helped launch the careers of Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie.
1989 – No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “If You Don’t Know Me by Now,” Simply Red.
1979 – No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Bad Girls,” Donna Summer.
1969 – David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” album is released.
1969 – No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus),” Zager & Evans. Evans wrote the song in the year 1964. It is their only song to make the Hot 100.
1959 – No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Lonely Boy,” Paul Anka.
1951 – Bonnie Pointer of the Pointer Sisters is born in Detroit, the daughter of a minister. The group, which is formed in Oakland, Calif., by sisters Ruth, Anita, Bonnie and June Pointer, has two million-selling No. 2 songs: “Fire” and “Slow Hand.” “Fire” is written by Bruce Springsteen.
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