1999 – Reggae star Dennis Brown dies at University Hospital in Kingston, Jamaica, of a collapsed lung. He is 43.
1998 – A track from metal-funk band White Zombie’s 1993 Geffen album “La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume One” has the dubious distinction of being played repeatedly to ward off paparazzi at the wedding of Barbra Streisand and James Brolin. The hardcore song “Thunder Kiss ’65” is played at ear-splitting levels for four hours straight from a van parked outside Streisand’s Malibu villa, incensing photographers and preventing reporters from hearing the ceremony inside.
1998 – Wu-Tang Clan member Ol’ Dirty Bastard, who earlier announced he wanted to be known as Big Baby Jesus, checks himself out of a New York hospital against the advice of his doctors. A few days prior, ODB, whose real name is Russel Jones, had been shot in the back at his girlfriend’s apartment during an apparent robbery.
1998 – Country star Martina McBride joins the Lilith Fair lineup in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, making her the first contemporary country artist to guest on the popular festival’s female-dominated bill.
1981 – Rushton Moreve of Steppenwolf dies in an auto wreck at age 35. The group’s biggest hit is “Born to Be Wild,” which reaches No. 2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in 1968.
1979 – The Doobie Brothers celebrate their 10th anniversary with an all-star jam session at the Friar’s Club in Los Angeles.
1975 – Former Beatle Ringo Starr divorces from his wife, Maureen Cox.
1970 – Jimi Hendrix records his first session at Electric Ladyland Studios, New York.
1968 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono are hospitalized after an auto accident in Scotland.
1952 – Comedian/actor/writer/Blues Brother and House of Blues co-founder Dan Aykroyd is born in Ottawa, Canada.
1951 – Fred Schneider of the B-52s is born in Georgia. Two singles from the group’s 1989 album, “Cosmic Thing,” sell more than 500,000 copies and reach No. 3 on Billboard’s pop singles chart: “Love Shack” and “Roam.”
1945 – Deborah Harry is born in Miami. She is the lead singer of the techno-pop group Blondie from 1975-83. The group has four million-selling No. 1 singles. Its biggest hit is “Call Me,” which tops the chart for six weeks and is the theme for the film “American Gigolo.”
1935 – Bluesman James Cotton is born.
1915 – Bluesman Willie Dixon is born in Vicksburg, Miss. He is a Golden Gloves heavyweight champion in Chicago in 1936. He writes hundreds of blues songs and produces a majority of the Chicago blues records into the 1970s. His biggest pop hit is “Walking the Blues,” a No. 6 song in 1955.
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