Musician Birthdays: Andy Gibb (one of the singers of the Bee Gees, famous for the hit, “Staying Alive”, born in 1958), John Frusciante (former guitarist of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, famous for hits, “Under the Bridge”, “Give It Away”, “Californiacation”, etc. Born in 1970)

– In 1955: Elvis Presley made his TV debut when he appeared on the weekend show ‘Louisiana Hayride’ on KWKH TV, broadcast from Shreveport Auditorium in Shreveport, Louisiana.

– In 1963: Country singers Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins were killed in a plane crash near Camden, Tennessee. They were traveling to Nashville after appearing at a benefit concert for the widow of Kansas City disc jockey ‘Cactus’ Jack Call, who had died in a car crash. On 7 March, country singer Jack Anglin was killed in a car crash on his way to Cline’s funeral. Cline was the first country singer to cross over as a pop artist.

– In 1963: The Beatles recorded what would be their third single ‘From Me to You’ just five days after John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the song. Originally planned as the B-side of the record, it was switched to the A-side during the recording session, with ‘Thank You Girl’ demoted to the B-side.

– In 1971: Led Zeppelin started a 12-date ‘Thank You’ tour for British fans, appearing at the clubs from their early days and charging the same admission prices as in 1968. The first show was at The Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland where they played songs from their upcoming fourth album, including the first public performances of ‘Black Dog’, ‘Stairway To Heaven’, ‘Going To California’ and ‘Rock And Roll’.

– In 1973: The former US manager of Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jeffrey was one of 68 people killed in a plane crash in France. Jeffery was en-route to a court appearance in London related to Hendrix.

– In 1982: Actor and singer John Belushi died from an overdose of cocaine and heroin. Belushi was one of the original cast members on US TV’s Saturday Night Live, played Joliet ‘Jake’ Blues in The Blues Brothers and also appeared in the film Animal House. His tombstone reads “I may be gone, but rock n roll lives on.”

– In 1983: Michael Jackson started a seven week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Billie Jean’, his fourth solo US No.1, also No.1 in the UK. And on this day Jacksons album ‘Thriller’ went to No.1 for the first time on the UK album chart, it went on to become the biggest selling album of all time with sales over 50 million.

– In 1992: R.E.M. cleaned up in The Rolling Stone Music Awards winning Album of the year, for ‘Out Of Time’, Artist of the year, Best single for ‘Losing My Religion’, Best video for ‘Losing My Religion’ and Best band, Best guitarist and Best songwriter awards.

– In 1999: Sir Elton John won a court case against The Daily Star, after they had published long-lens photographs of Spice Girl Victoria Adams and footballer David Beckham while they were staying at Elton’s home.

– In 2000: Madonna went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with her version of the Don McLean 1972 hit ‘American Pie’. It was her 50th UK hit and the singers ninth UK No.1 and taken from the soundtrack to the 2000 film The Next Best Thing.

– In 2002: The first episode of ‘The Osbournes’ TV show was aired on MTV in the US. Focusing on the madman and his family (his wife Sharon, and two of their three children). Oblivious to the camera, they bicker, squabble, curse and hang out backstage at Ozzy shows.

– In 2007: Records by the Rolling Stones and Paul Simon were chosen for preservation by the US Library of Congress. The Stones’ Satisfaction and Paul Simon’s Graceland album entered the National Recordings Registry, which preserves historic works for future generations. Other recordings chosen this year included Carl Perkins’ Blue Suede Shoes, Be My Baby by The Ronettes, A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke and the eponymous album The Velvet Underground and Nico.