2001 – German opera singer Martha Moedl, who rose to international fame with her performances of Wagner in the 1950s and 1960s, dies at a hospital in Stuttgart, Germany, after a long illness. She is 89.
2001 – Bianca Halstead, lead singer of the rock band Betty Blowtorch, dies while riding in a speeding car that goes out of control and crashes on Interstate 10 near New Orleans. She is 36.
1999 – Grammy winning producer Andy Wiswell dies of a short illness at his home in Aikens, S.C. He is 94.
1999 – Crossover jazz saxophonist Grover Washington collapses and dies in New York after taping a performance for CBS’s “”The Saturday Early Show.”” He is 56. The show airs the next day.
1999 – Singing cowboy Rex Allen Sr. dies in Tucson, Ariz., when his caregiver accidentally hits him with a car in his driveway. He is 78.
1997 – President Clinton signs into law the No Electronic Theft Act, closing a loophole that had protected individuals who claimed they took no direct financial gains from stealing copyrighted works and downloading them on the Internet.
1996 – Two of Charlie Daniels’ band members show real dedication to the road by scheduling outpatient surgical procedures to coincide with a procedure Daniels is having. Bass player Charlie Hayward (tonsillectomy) and drummer Jack Gavin (shoulder surgery), wanting to avoid missed concert dates, join Daniels (realignment of both knees) on the same day, in the same hospital.
1996 – At a press conference, Celine Dion admits that a hectic recording and touring schedule has kept her from her ultimate goal of becoming a mother. The Canadian diva says she will take a break and concentrate on starting a family with her husband and manager Rene Angelil.
1996 – Irish singer, Ruby Murray, who had five hit records in the top 20 in the ’50s, dies.
1995 – Sting and wife Trudie Styler welcome a son, Giacomo Luke, in London.
1978 – No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “”Le Freak,”” Chic. The single sells more than 4 million copies, making it the best selling single from Atlantic Records.
1969 – No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “”Leaving on a Jet Plane,”” Peter, Paul & Mary. The song is the final single from the group and the only to top the pop chart.
1958 – Mike Mills of R.E.M. is born. The group’s best selling album is 1991’s “”Out of Time,”” which sells more than 3 million copies.
1942 – Bluesman Paul Butterfield is born in Chicago.
1939 – Eddie Kendricks of the Temptations is born in Birmingham, Ala.
1894 – Boston Pops conductor Arthur Fiedler is born in Boston. He joins the Boston Pops Orchestra about 1915 as a viola player and begins conducting the group in 1930, which he continues until his death in 1979.
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