Musician Birthdays: Bobby Womack (soul singer, session guitarist. Famous for hit, “Looking For a Love”, born in 1944), Jason Newsted (former bassist of Metallica, born in 1963)

– In 1966: John Lennon’s statement that The Beatles were ‘more popular than Jesus Christ’ was published in The London Evening Standard. “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. We’re more popular then Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first, rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity. Jesus was alright, but his disciples were thick and ordinary.” Christian group’s in the US were outraged resulting in some states burning Beatles records. Lennon later apologised.

– In 1967: The Rolling Stones went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Ruby Tuesday’, the group’s fourth US No.1 single. ‘Lets Spend The Night Together’ was the original A side but after radio stations banned the song ‘Tuesday’ became the A side.

– In 1973: Pink Floyd played the first night on a 19 date North American tour at the Dane County Memorial Coliseum in Madison.

– In 1977: CBS released The Clash’s self- titled first album in the UK. CBS in the U.S. refused to release it until 1979. Americans bought over 100,000 imported copies of the record making it one of the biggest- selling import records of all time.

– In 1978: The US internal Revenue Service carried out a dawn raid at the home of Jerry Lee Lewis and removed cars worth over £100,000 ($170,000) to pay off his tax debts.

– In 1979: Randy Jackson of The Jackson Five was seriously injured in a car crash breaking both legs and almost died in the emergency room when a nurse inadvertently injects him with methadone.

– In 1982: Frank Zappa’s son Dweezil and his daughter Moon Unit formed a band called Fred Zeppelin. Their first single was ‘My Mother is a Space Cadet’.

– In 1986: After just completing a two set show with The Band in Winter Park, Florida, 41 year old Richard Manuel of The Band hung himself from a shower curtain rod in a hotel room in Florida. His band mate, Robbie Robertson honored his friend with the song, ‘Fallen Angel’ in 1987.

– In 1993: Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown became parents when Whitney gave birth to a baby girl, Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown.

– In 1994: Kurt Cobain was rushed to hospital after overdosing on alcohol and drugs in a Rome hotel during a Nirvana European tour. Cobain had taken 50-60 pills of Rohypnol mixed with champagne; rumours on the internet claimed that Kurt was dead.

– In 2001: Village People singer Glenn Hughes died of lung cancer aged 50 in his Manhattan apartment in New York. He was the original “Biker” character in the disco group who scored the 1978 UK No.1 & US No.2 single Y.M.C.A.

– In 2009: Britney Spears kicked off a world tour in New Orleans, her first concert tour for five years. The 27-year-old who dressed as a ringmaster in the show, featured jugglers, acrobats and martial arts dancers.