TODAY IN HISTORY - July 9th
1946 - Born this day, [Ronald] Bon Scott, in Kirriemuir, Scotland, vocalist, AC/DC, 1980 UK No.36 single Whole Lotta Rosie, 1980 UK No.1 and US No.14 album Back in Black sold over 10 million copies. Died 20 February 1980.
1955 - Bill Haley & His Comets went to No.1 on the US singles chart with (We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock, staying at No.1 for eight weeks and becoming one of the biggest selling singles of all time. It marked what some consider to be the beginning of the rock 'n' roll era.
1956 - Dick Clark made his first appearance as host of American Bandstand.
1959 - Born this day, [Peter] Marc Almond, singer, Softcell, 1981 UK No.1 single Tainted Love, Bed Sitter, Say Hello Wave Goodbye, Torch, What, and solo, 1989 UK No.1 single with Gene Pitney, Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart.
1959 - Born this day, Jim Kerr, rock singer, Simple Minds, 1985 US No.1 single Don't You, Forget About Me, 1989 UK No.1 single Belfast Child, plus over 20 other UK top 40 singles.
1964 - House Of The Rising Sun by The Animals went to No.1 in the UK for one week.
1965 - Born this day, Courtney Love [Courtney Michelle Harrison], singer, guitar, actress, Babes In Toyland, Hole, 1995 UK No.16 single Doll Parts, married Kurt Cobain on 24 February 1992.
1970 - Guess Who started a three-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'American Woman', it was the group's sixth Top 30 hit and only chart topper. The song was born by accident when guitarist Randy Bachman was playing a heavy riff on stage after he had broken a string, the other members joined in on the jam. A fan in the audience who had recorded the gig on tape presented it to the group after the show and they developed it into a full song.
1972 - Paul McCartney appeared on stage for the first time since 1966, as his group Wings, started their first major tour (26 dates) at Chateauvillon in the south of France. The band travelled on a double-decker London bus with psychedelic interior.
1974 - Bonnie Raitt played two shows at Harvard Square Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts; opening act was Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Rolling Stone critic John Landau saw Springsteen and wrote 'I have seen rock & roll's future and his name is Bruce Springsteen'.
1975 - Born this day, Jack White, (John Gillis), guitar, vocals, The White Stripes, 2003 UK No.1 album Elephant.
1977 - Elvis Costello [Declan McManus] quit his day job at Elizabeth Arden Cosmetics to become a full time musician.
1977 - Undercover Angel by songwriter (turned pop singer) Alan O'Day, reached the top spot on the Billboard chart. It was his only solo hit, but it was not the first visit to the top of the pop music world for O'Day, though the million-seller would be his last as a singer. It made No.43 in the UK. He wrote Angie Baby, a No.1 hit for Helen Reddy and the No.3 hit, Rock And Roll Heaven, for The Righteous Brothers.
1980 - 'I Don't Like Mondays' by The Boomtown Rats won the best pop song and outstanding British lyric categories at the 25th Ivor Novello Awards. And Supertramp's 'The Logical Song' won Best Song Musically and Lyrically. Boomtown Rats lead singer Bob Geldoff was inspired to write the song after reading about the tragic shooting spree when 16-year-old Brenda Spencer killed two people and wounded nine others when she fired from her house across the street onto the entrance of San Diego's Grover Cleveland Elementary School.
1983 - The Police started a eight week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Every Breath You Take. It was also No.1 in the UK.
1983 - Wham! went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their debut release Fantastic!, which went on to spend 116 weeks on the chart.
1987 - Starship started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with a song co-written by Albert Hammond and Diane Warren, 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now.' At 48, it made lead singer Grace Slick the oldest female to reach No.1 on the UK chart, (later broken by Cher's 'Believe' in 1999).
1988 - Cheap Trick went to No.1 on the US singles chart with The Flame, the group's only US No.1.
1995 - Michael Jackson was at No.1 on the US album chart with Past, Present and Future Book 1.
1999 - Oscar-winning pop superstar Elton John, in ill health for several days, underwent surgery to insert a heart pacemaker. The hour-long procedure was considered a success. The 52-year-old singer and songwriter told reporters, "I feel very well. I'm a bit stiff, a bit sore, but everything went really well." The first sign something was wrong came the previous week, when John was a no-show at Posh Spice's wedding to soccer star David Beckham at a castle in Ireland. John was scheduled to perform. "Literally, I was on the plane to David and Victoria's wedding, but I was ill and had to have some tests," John told reporters. "I was given the all-clear and went back to France." But the real problem was an irregular heartbeat. Doctors believed the pacemaker would correct the singer's problem. Sir Elton was forced to cancel a series of concerts.
1999 - A statement was issued by Jerry Hall's lawyers saying that she had formally agreed to separate from husband Mick Jagger after more than 20 years of marriage.
2000 - Vertical Horizon went to No.1 on the US singles chart with Everything You Want.
2005 - Country singer Kenny Chesney married 'Bridget Jones' and 'Chicago' actress Renee Zellweger in the Caribbean.
2013 - David Bowie's latest video, which starred Gary Oldman and Marion Cotillard, was temporarily pulled from YouTube over its graphic content. "The Next Day" featured heavy religious imagery, including Cotillard bleeding from stigmata marks. The video sees Bowie performing in a basement bar, surrounded by religious figures, while Oldman, dressed as a priest, punches a beggar before dancing with a prostitute, played by Oscar-winner Cotillard. YouTube admitted making the "wrong call" in removing the video, and reinstated it with an adult content warning.
1946 - Born this day, [Ronald] Bon Scott, in Kirriemuir, Scotland, vocalist, AC/DC, 1980 UK No.36 single Whole Lotta Rosie, 1980 UK No.1 and US No.14 album Back in Black sold over 10 million copies. Died 20 February 1980.
1955 - Bill Haley & His Comets went to No.1 on the US singles chart with (We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock, staying at No.1 for eight weeks and becoming one of the biggest selling singles of all time. It marked what some consider to be the beginning of the rock 'n' roll era.
1956 - Dick Clark made his first appearance as host of American Bandstand.
1959 - Born this day, [Peter] Marc Almond, singer, Softcell, 1981 UK No.1 single Tainted Love, Bed Sitter, Say Hello Wave Goodbye, Torch, What, and solo, 1989 UK No.1 single with Gene Pitney, Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart.
1959 - Born this day, Jim Kerr, rock singer, Simple Minds, 1985 US No.1 single Don't You, Forget About Me, 1989 UK No.1 single Belfast Child, plus over 20 other UK top 40 singles.
1964 - House Of The Rising Sun by The Animals went to No.1 in the UK for one week.
1965 - Born this day, Courtney Love [Courtney Michelle Harrison], singer, guitar, actress, Babes In Toyland, Hole, 1995 UK No.16 single Doll Parts, married Kurt Cobain on 24 February 1992.
1970 - Guess Who started a three-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'American Woman', it was the group's sixth Top 30 hit and only chart topper. The song was born by accident when guitarist Randy Bachman was playing a heavy riff on stage after he had broken a string, the other members joined in on the jam. A fan in the audience who had recorded the gig on tape presented it to the group after the show and they developed it into a full song.
1972 - Paul McCartney appeared on stage for the first time since 1966, as his group Wings, started their first major tour (26 dates) at Chateauvillon in the south of France. The band travelled on a double-decker London bus with psychedelic interior.
1974 - Bonnie Raitt played two shows at Harvard Square Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts; opening act was Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Rolling Stone critic John Landau saw Springsteen and wrote 'I have seen rock & roll's future and his name is Bruce Springsteen'.
1975 - Born this day, Jack White, (John Gillis), guitar, vocals, The White Stripes, 2003 UK No.1 album Elephant.
1977 - Elvis Costello [Declan McManus] quit his day job at Elizabeth Arden Cosmetics to become a full time musician.
1977 - Undercover Angel by songwriter (turned pop singer) Alan O'Day, reached the top spot on the Billboard chart. It was his only solo hit, but it was not the first visit to the top of the pop music world for O'Day, though the million-seller would be his last as a singer. It made No.43 in the UK. He wrote Angie Baby, a No.1 hit for Helen Reddy and the No.3 hit, Rock And Roll Heaven, for The Righteous Brothers.
1980 - 'I Don't Like Mondays' by The Boomtown Rats won the best pop song and outstanding British lyric categories at the 25th Ivor Novello Awards. And Supertramp's 'The Logical Song' won Best Song Musically and Lyrically. Boomtown Rats lead singer Bob Geldoff was inspired to write the song after reading about the tragic shooting spree when 16-year-old Brenda Spencer killed two people and wounded nine others when she fired from her house across the street onto the entrance of San Diego's Grover Cleveland Elementary School.
1983 - The Police started a eight week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Every Breath You Take. It was also No.1 in the UK.
1983 - Wham! went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their debut release Fantastic!, which went on to spend 116 weeks on the chart.
1987 - Starship started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with a song co-written by Albert Hammond and Diane Warren, 'Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now.' At 48, it made lead singer Grace Slick the oldest female to reach No.1 on the UK chart, (later broken by Cher's 'Believe' in 1999).
1988 - Cheap Trick went to No.1 on the US singles chart with The Flame, the group's only US No.1.
1995 - Michael Jackson was at No.1 on the US album chart with Past, Present and Future Book 1.
1999 - Oscar-winning pop superstar Elton John, in ill health for several days, underwent surgery to insert a heart pacemaker. The hour-long procedure was considered a success. The 52-year-old singer and songwriter told reporters, "I feel very well. I'm a bit stiff, a bit sore, but everything went really well." The first sign something was wrong came the previous week, when John was a no-show at Posh Spice's wedding to soccer star David Beckham at a castle in Ireland. John was scheduled to perform. "Literally, I was on the plane to David and Victoria's wedding, but I was ill and had to have some tests," John told reporters. "I was given the all-clear and went back to France." But the real problem was an irregular heartbeat. Doctors believed the pacemaker would correct the singer's problem. Sir Elton was forced to cancel a series of concerts.
1999 - A statement was issued by Jerry Hall's lawyers saying that she had formally agreed to separate from husband Mick Jagger after more than 20 years of marriage.
2000 - Vertical Horizon went to No.1 on the US singles chart with Everything You Want.
2005 - Country singer Kenny Chesney married 'Bridget Jones' and 'Chicago' actress Renee Zellweger in the Caribbean.
2013 - David Bowie's latest video, which starred Gary Oldman and Marion Cotillard, was temporarily pulled from YouTube over its graphic content. "The Next Day" featured heavy religious imagery, including Cotillard bleeding from stigmata marks. The video sees Bowie performing in a basement bar, surrounded by religious figures, while Oldman, dressed as a priest, punches a beggar before dancing with a prostitute, played by Oscar-winner Cotillard. YouTube admitted making the "wrong call" in removing the video, and reinstated it with an adult content warning.