Events in Music
Event of Interest
1955 Johnny Cash debuts Top 10 country song "Cry! Cry! Cry!"
Johnny Cash
Music Premiere
1969 Dmitri Shostakovich's 14th Symphony premieres in Moscow
Dmitri Shostakovich
Event of Interest
1975 Elton John, The Eagles and The Beach Boys play Wembley Stadium
Elton John
Event of Interest
1975 Ritchie Blackmore quits Deep Purple, forms Rainbow
Ritchie Blackmore
Music Premiere
1978 Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's musical "Evita" premieres in London
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Tim Rice
Event of Interest
1981 Don Fagan and Walter Becker quit rock group Steely Dan
Walter Becker
Donald Fagen
Event of Interest
1982 Paul McCartney releases "Take it Away"
Paul McCartney
- 1986 "Living on Video" by Trans-X peaks at #61
- 1986 "Vienna Calling" by Falco peaks at #18
- 1993 "Camelot" opens at Gershwin Theater NYC for 56 performances
- 1997 "Defending the Caveman" closes at Helen Hayes NYC after 671 performances
- 1998 "Don't Be Cruel" 2nd studio album by Bobby Brown is released (Grammy Award Best Male R&B Vocal Performance 1990)
Album Release
2005 Billy Corgan releases "TheFutureEmbrace", his first solo album
Billy Corgan
Birthdays in Music
- 1577 Giovanni Del Turco, Italian composer, born in Florence, Italy (d. 1647)
- 1668 Cajetan Kolberer, composer, born in Salzburg, Austria (d. 1732)
- 1732 Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, composer and 5th son of Johann Sebastian Bach, born in Leipzig, Germany (d. 1795)
- 1790 Wilhelm Speyer, German violinist and composer, born in Offenbach, Hesse, Germany (d. 1878)
- 1805 Karl Friedrich Curschmann, German composer, born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1841)
- 1818 Ernst II, duke of Saxon-Coburg-Gotha (1844-93) and composer, born in Ehrenburg Palace, Coburg, Germany (d. 1893)
- 1862 Henry Holden Huss, American composer, born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 1953)
- 1865 Herbert Brewer, English composer, born in Gloucester, England (d. 1928)
- 1891 Hermann Scherchen, German conductor (Nature of Music), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1966)
- 1893 Alois Hába, Czech composer, born in Vizovice, Zlín Region, Czech Republic (d. 1973)
- 1899 Pavel Haas, Czech Jewish composer killed during the Holocaust, born in Brno, Czech Republic (d. 1944)
- 1900 Gunnar Ek, Swedish composer and musician, born in Asarum Blekinge (d. 1981)
- 1902 Wilhelm Maler, German composer, born in Heidelberg, Germany (d. 1976)
- 1903 Louis Krasner, Ukrainian-American violinist, born in Cherkasy, Ukraine (d. 1995)
- 1906 Helene Costello, American dancer and actress (Love Toy), born in NYC, New York (d. 1957)
- 1906 Lluís Maria Millet, Catalan composer, born in Barcelona, Spain (d. 1990)
- 1906 Harold Spina, American composer, born in NYC, New York (d. 1997)
- 1909 Kurt Schwaen, German composer, born in Katowice, Poland (d. 2007)
- 1910 Bela Tardos, Hungarian composer, born in Budapest (d. 1966)
- 1910 Charles Jones, composer, born in Tamworth, Ontario, Canada (d. 1997)
- 1914 Jan Decadt, Flemish composer, born in Ypres (d. 1995)
- 1921 Frank Scott, American pianist (Lawrence Welk Show), born in Fargo, North Dakota (d. 1995)
- 1924 Wally Fawkes, British-Canadian cartoonist and jazz clarinetist, born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- 1928 Judith Raskin, American soprano (Susanna-Le Nozze di Figaro), born in NYC, New York
- 1929 Alexandre Lagoya, Greek-Italian classical guitarist (d. 1999)
- 1932 Lalo [Boris] Schifrin, composer, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- 1932 Ocie Lee "OC" Smith, US jazz singer (Little Green Apples) d. 2001
- 1939 Charles Boone, composer
- 1943 Salomé, Spanish singer
- 1944 Jon Hiseman, English drummer (Colosseum), born in London, United Kingdom (d. 2018)
- 1944 Ray Davies, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Kinks), born in London
- 1945 Chris Britton, England, rock guitarist (Troggs-Wild Thing)
- 1946 Brenda Holloway, US singer/songwriter (When I'm Gone)
- 1947 Joseph "Joey" Molland, British rock guitarist (Badfinger-Come & Get It), born in Liverpool, England
- 1950 Joey Kramer, American hard rock drummer (Aerosmith-Toys in the Attic), born in NYC, New York
- 1951 Nils Lofgren, guitarist/singer/songwriter (E Street Band), born in Chicago, Illinois
- 1953 Augustus Pablo, Jamaican musician (d. 1999)
- 1957 Mark Brzezicki, rock drummer (Big Country-Wonderland)
- 1959 Kathy Mattea, country singer (Love at the Five & Dime)
- 1961 Kip Winger, rocker (Winger-17)
- 1961 Manu Chao, Spanish musician
- 1961 Sascha Konietzko, German musician
- 1962 Viktor Tsoi, Russian musician
- 1967 Tim Simenson, rocker (Bomb the Bass)
- 1968 Sonique [Sonia Marina Clarke], British musician and DJ, born in London
- 1970 Pete Rock, American rapper/producer, born in The Bronx, New York
- 1971 Anette Olzon, Swedish singer
- 1974 Neely Jenkins, American musician
- 1976 Mike Einziger, American musician
- 1981 Brandon Flowers, American singer and keyboardist (The Killers)
- 1985 Lana Del Rey, American singer-songwriter (Born to Die, Ultraviolence), and model (H&M), born in NYC, New York
- 1987 Kim Ryeowook, Korean pop singer
Weddings in Music
Wedding of Interest
1970 "The Doors" lead singer Jim Morrison (26) "marries" author Patricia Kennealy (24) in a celtic pagan hand fasting ceremony, but the marriage is not legally binding
Jim Morrison
- 1976 Country singer Reba McEntire (21) weds national steer wrestling champion Charlie Battles
Wedding of Interest
1986 The Boomtown Rats singer Bob Geldof (34) weds broadcaster and writer Paula Yates (27) in Las Vegas
Bob Geldof
- 1992 Actress Marina Sirtis (Star Trek NG) marries rocker Michael Lamper
Deaths in Music
- 1621 Kryštof Harant, Polish soldier, writer, and composer (b. 1564)
- 1887 Adolf Schimon, composer, dies at 67
- 1900 Polibo Fumagalli, Italian composer, dies at 69
- 1908 Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Russian composer (Sheherazade), dies at 64 (OS 8 Jun)
- 1914 Glauco Velasquez, composer, dies at 30
- 1946 Heinrich Kaminski, German composer, dies at 59
- 1972 Seth Bingham, American composer, dies at 90
- 1975 Heinz Lau, German composer, dies at 49
- 1979 Angus Maclise, American mystic, shaman, musician, and composer (b. 1938)
- 1980 Bert Kaempfert, German orchestra leader and songwriter, dies of a stroke at 56
- 1981 Gunnar Ek, Swedish composer, dies on his 81st birthday
- 1986 Assi Rahbani, Lebanese composer and author, dies at 63
- 1992 Thomas Whitfield, American gospel vocalist, dies of heart attack at 38
- 1993 Ticho Parly, Danish tenor, dies at 64
- 1997 Art Prysock, jazz musician, dies at 68
- 1997 Shintaro Katsu, Japanese actor, singer, producer, and director (Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman), dies at 65
- 1999 Kami, Japanese drummer (Malice Mizer) (b. 1973)
- 2000 Alan Hovhaness, Armenian-American composer (Lousadzak, Ukiyo), dies at 89
- 2001 John Lee Hooker, American blues guitarist (Boogie Chillen), dies at 83
- 2015 Gunther Schuller, American hornist and jazz composer (1994 Pulitzer Prize), dies at 89
June in History
Lomu – The Unstoppable Gentle Giant
Jonah Lomu was a phenomenon in Rugby Union – a man-mountain who inspired fear and respect in equal measure among his opponents.
June 18, 1995
'Gorgeous Gussie' Shocks Wimbledon
There is a strict dress code at Wimbledon and, as Gussie Moran discovered on this day in tennis history, tennis players break it at their peril.
June 20, 1949
Deadly Quest For The Northern Passage
For centuries mankind had sought the fabled Northern Passage - a new route for shipping from Europe to Asia. Explorer Henry Hudson's attempt did not go well.
June 22, 1611
How the Qwerty Keyboard was Born
A typewriter patent was granted on this day to the man who would go on to produce and inflict on us all the ubiquitous Qwerty keyboard.
June 23, 1868