Events in Music
- 1830 Hector Berlioz's "Symphony Fantastic" premieres
Event of Interest
1896 "Stars & Stripes Forever" written by John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa
- 1905 V Herbert/H Blossoms musical "Mlle Modiste" premieres in NYC
Music Premiere
1915 Irving Berlin & Harry B Smith's musical premieres in NYC
Irving Berlin
- 1917 Louis Hirsch and Otto Harbach's musical "Going Up" premieres in New York City
- 1931 NY's Metropolitan Opera broadcasts an entire opera over radio
- 1937 Arturo Toscanini conducts 1st Symphony of the Air over NBC Radio
- 1955 Pope Pius XII encyclical on sacred music & popular music
- 1958 Alan Freed's Christmas Rock & Roll Spectacular opens
Event of Interest
1964 George Harrison's girlfriend Patti Boyd attacked by female Beatle fans
George Harrison
Event of Interest
1967 Singer Paul McCartney & actress Jane Asher get engaged
Paul McCartney
Film Premier
1973 "The Sting" directed by George Roy Hill, starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford and music inspired by Scott Joplin premieres in Los Angeles and New York (Best Picture 1974)
- 1994 "Comedy Tonight" closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC after 8 performances
Birthdays in Music
- 1583 Orlando Gibbons, English composer (O Clap Your Hands), baptized
- 1601 Jose Ximenez, Spanish composer, born in Zaragoza (d. 1672)
- 1646 Harald Vallerius, composer
- 1665 Lady Grizel Baillie, Scottish songwriter (d. 1746)
- 1686 Giovanni Battista Somis, composer
- 1711 Jean-Joseph Cassenea de Mondonville, composer
- 1728 Johann Adam Hiller, composer
- 1750 John "Christmas" Beckwith, composer
- 1765 Joseph Mazzinghi, composer
- 1775 Antun Sorkocevic, composer
- 1815 Temistocle Solera, composer
- 1825 Esteban Salas y Castro, composer
- 1829 Patrick S Gilmore, composer
- 1831 Johann Herbeck, composer
- 1837 Cosima Liszt, wife of Austrian composer Richard Wagner
- 1859 Raoul Gunsbourg, composer
- 1868 Eugenie Besserer, American actress (Jazz Singer), born in Watertown, New York (d. 1934)
- 1874 Lina Cavalieri, Italian soprano (d. 1944)
- 1883 Fran Lhotka, Czech composer, born in Mladá Vožice (d. 1962)
- 1886 Kid Ory, American musician (d. 1973)
- 1900 Gladys Swarthout, Deepwater Missouri, mezzo-soprano (La Gioconda)
- 1903 Antiochos Evanghelatos, composer
- 1907 Cab[ell] Calloway, bandleader (Minnie the Moocha, Jazzball), born in Rochester, New York
- 1908 Jan Seidel, Czech composer, born in Nymburk, Bohemia (d. 1998)
- 1910 David Lichine, [Lichtenstein], Russian/US dancer (Make Mine Music)
- 1912 Leighton Noble, singer/bandleader
- 1912 Werner Fussan, composer
- 1913 Tony Martin [Alvin Morris], American singer (It's a Blue World, To Each), born in San Francisco, California
- 1915 Noelle de Mosa, Neth/British dancer/teacher (Brigadoon)
- 1915 Pete Rugolo, bandleader/arranger (Fugitive)
- 1916 Daniel Devoto, composer
- 1918 Eddie Safranski, orchestra leader (Jonathan Winters Show), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- 1919 Naushad Ali, Indian music director (d. 2006)
- 1923 Louis Lane, Eagle Pass Texas, conductor (Oere Orch 1968-73)
- 1926 Enrique Jorrín, Cuban composer and musician (d. 1987)
- 1929 Bill Horton, doo-wop singer (The Silhouettes-Get a Job), born in Hickory, North Carolina (d. 1995)
- 1929 Chris Kenner, R&B singer (I Like it Like That), born in Kenner, Louisiana (d. 1976)
- 1934 McKinley Mitchell, US gospel/singer (The Town I Live In)
- 1935 Gunter Friedrichs, composer
- 1937 O'Kelly Isley, singer (Isley Brothers-Twist & Shout), born in Cincinnati, Ohio
- 1938 David Borden, composer
- 1939 Bob James, American smooth jazz musician, born in Marshall, Missouri
- 1940 Peter Brown, rocker, born in Chicago, Illinois
- 1940 Pete Brown, English musician and songwriter (Cream), born in Ashtead, Surrey
- 1941 Don Pullen, pianist/composer
- 1941 Ronald Perera, composer
- 1942 Barry Goldberg, American blues musician (The Rides), born in Chicago, Illinois
- 1943 Trevor Lucas, rocker (Fairport Convention)
- 1944 Henry Vestine, rock guitarist (Canned Heat-On the Road Again)
- 1945 Noel Redding, rocker (The Jimi Hendrix Experience-Purple Haze)
- 1945 Steve Mancha, [Clyde Wilson], US singer/songwriter (Too Many Cooks)
- 1946 Jimmy Buffet, Mobile Alabama, vocalist (Margaritaville)
- 1948 Barbara Mandrell, singer/TV host (Mandrell Sisters), born in Houston, Texas
- 1948 Merry Clayton, American soul and gospel singer and actress, born in New Orleans, Louisiana
- 1949 Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira, Singer and icon of the Brazilian music
- 1949 Joe Louis Walker, American musician
- 1951 Ria Thielsch, Dutch singer (Luv)
- 1952 Desireless, French singer
- 1954 Annie Lennox, Aberdeen Scotld, vocalist (Eurythmics-Sweet Dreams, Why)
- 1954 Robin Campbell, British reggae vocalist/guitarist (UB40-Red Red Wine)
- 1954 Steve Wariner, Noblesville Indiana, country singer (Small Town Girl)
- 1957 Jan Rot, Dutch composer/writer (Wrong Nights)
- 1957 Shane MacGowan, punk rock musician (Pogues-Red Roses For Me), born in Pembury, Kent
- 1958 Alannah Myles, Canadian singer-songwriter and actress (Rockinghorse, Black Velvet), born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- 1962 Darren Wharton, British Keyboardist (Thin Lizzy and Dare)
- 1964 Tim Royes - Music Video Director and Editor
- 1971 Noel Hogan, musician (Cranberries)
- 1972 Josh Freese, American drummer
- 1976 Tuomas Holopainen, Finnish keyboardist and songwriter
- 1982 Shystie, British rapper-songwriter
- 1984 Jessica Origliasso, Australian singer-songwriter and actress (The Veronicas), born in Albany Creek, Queensland, Australia
- 1984 Lisa Origliasso, Australian singer-songwriter and actress (The Veronicas), born in Albany Creek, Queensland, Australia
- 1985 Leon Pisani, Welsh singer
Deaths in Music
- 1765 Antonio Tonelli, composer, dies at 79
- 1788 John Logan, Scottish conductor (Ode to the Cuckoo), dies at about 40
- 1842 Bedrich Divis Weber, Bohemian composer and musicologist, dies at 76
- 1848 Johan Erik Nordblom, Swedish composer, dies at 60
- 1883 Marek Konrad Sokolowski, Polish guitarist and composer, dies at 65
- 1904 Vilhelm Svedbom, Swedish composer, dies at 61
- 1921 Hans Huber, Swiss composer, dies at 69
- 1922 Alphonse Goovaerts, Belgian composer and musicologist (Histoire et Bibliographie de la Typographie Musicale dans les Pays-Bas), dies at 75
- 1930 Harvey Worthington Loomis, American composer (Lyrics of the Red Man), dies at 65
- 1936 Pierre Maurice, Swiss composer, dies at 68
- 1942 Vojislav Vuckovic, composer, dies at 32
- 1943 Ilona Durigo, Hungarian singer, dies at 62
- 1943 Raymond Huntington Woodman, composer, dies at 82
- 1954 Johnny Ace, American rhythm and blues singer, accidentally shoots himself in the head at 25
- 1954 Rosario Scalero, composer, dies at 84
- 1971 Byron Arnold, composer, dies at 70
- 1980 Louis Neefs, Belgian singer, dies at 43
- 1985 George Rhodes, orchestra leader (Sammy Davis Jr Show), dies at 66
- 1995 Dean Martin [Dino Paul Crocetti], American singer and actor (Martin and Lewis, The Dean Martin Show), dies at 78
- 1995 Nikolai [Nicolas Leonidovich] Slonimsky, musicologist, dies at 101
- 1995 Nicolas Slonimsky, Russian-American composer, dies at 101
- 1998 Bryan MacLean, American singer, musician and songwriter (Love) (b. 1946)
- 2005 Derek Bailey, English guitar virtuoso (b. 1930)
- 2005 Birgit Nilsson, Swedish singer (b. 1918)
James Brown
2006 James Brown, rhythm & blues, gospel, jazz, soul and funk singer or simply The Godfather of Soul (Genius of Love, Hot Pants) dies of heart failure at 73
James Brown
- 2007 Mighty King Kong, Kenyan reggae musician. (b. 1973)
- 2008 Eartha Kitt, American singer (Santa Baby), dancer, comedian, actress and activist (Catwoman-Batman), dies at 81
- 2009 Vic Chesnutt, American singer and songwriter (b. 1964)
- 2011 Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood [Euclid James Sherwood], American rock musician (Mothers Of Invention), dies at 69
George Michael
2016 George Michael [Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou], English singer-songwriter and pop superstar (Wham!, I Want Your Sex), dies of suspected heart failure at 53
George Michael