I wouldn’t want to live in the past. But I still like to visit every now and then. Here are the musical birthdays we’ll be celebrating and the anniversaries we’ll be marking over the next week:
Monday March 25
1942 | Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin was born.
1947 | Elton John was born with the far less interesting name of Reginald Dwight.
1966 | Singer-guitarist Jeff Healey was born. On the same day, a photo session in London, The Beatles posed in white coats with sides of meat and mutilated dolls for the cover of Yesterday and Today.
1969 | John Lennon and Yoko Ono started their week long bed-in in the presidential suite at The Amsterdam Hilton.
1986 | Guns N’ Roses signed a deal with Geffen Records.
1999 | Country singer Ray Price, 73, was arrested in his Texas home for possession of marijuana. He was fined $200.
2006 | American singer and guitarist Buck Owens died.
2009 | Dan Seals from England Dan & John Ford Coley died.
Tuesday March 26
1917 | Singer Rufus Thomas was born. If you don’t know how to do it, he’ll show you how to walk the dog.
1944 | Singer Diana Ross was born — though she actually celebrated her birthday weeks earlier.
1948 | Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler was born. If you don’t know how to do it, he’ll show you how to walk this way.
1995 | Rapper and NWA co-founder Eazy-E (Eric Lynn Wright) died of AIDS in Los Angeles at age 31.
2002 | Drummer Randy Castillo died of cancer at age 51.
2004 | Jan Berry of Jan and Dean died at the age of 62, after being in poor health for years due to injuries he sustained in a 1966 car crash.
2006 | Singer-guitarist Nikki Sudden died from a heart attack at the age of 49 after performing at the Knitting Factory in New York City.
Wednesday March 27
1970 | Singer Mariah Carey was born. In the hospital nursery, other babies cried while she just lip-synched along.
1971 | Bruce Springsteen & Friendly Enemies opened for The Allman Brothers Band in Asbury Park.N.J. Tickets cost $4.
1972 | Elvis Presley recorded Burning Love, the song that would be his last major hit.
1979 | Eric Clapton married George Harrison’s ex-wife Patti Harrison, the woman who inspired his song Layla.
1987 | U2 played on the roof of a store in L.A. to make the video for Where The Streets Have No Name, attracting thousands of spectators — and, eventually, police who stopped the shoot.
2000 | Ian Dury died after a long battle with cancer at age 57.
Thursday March 28
1954 | Country singer and Col. Sanders stand-in Reba McEntire was born.
1973 | Led Zeppelin released their fifth album Houses Of The Holy.
1974 | Blues singer Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Crudup died of a stroke at age 69.
1982 | David Crosby was arrested after crashing his car on the San Diego Freeway. After police found cocaine and a gun in the car and police why he carried the gun, he said, “John Lennon.”
1986 | Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta was born. You might know her as Lady Gaga.
Friday March 29
1959 | Jane’s Addiction singer and Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell was born.
1966 | Mick Jagger was injured during a gig in Marseilles when a fan threw a chair at the stage during a Rolling Stones gig.
1973 | Dr. Hook And The Medicine Show got their picture on the cover of Rolling Stone. They bought five copies for their mothers.
1980 | Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of The Moon album notched its 303rd week on the U.S. album chart, beating the record set by Carole King’s 1971 LP Tapestry.
2005 | Neil Young was treated for a brain aneurysm at a hospital in New York.
Saturday March 30
1945 | Singer-guitarist Eric Clapton was born.
1948 | Black Oak Arkansas singer Jim Dandy was born.
1962 | MC Hammer was born. His real name is Stanley Kirk Burrell — but nobody would buy a song called Burrell Time.
1963 | 16-year-old Lesley Gore recorded her breakthrough hit It’s My Party.
1968 | Celine Dion was born.
1979 | Singer-songwriter Norah Jones was born.
Sunday March 31
1937 | Trumpeter Herb Alpert, the fouder of the Tijuana Brass and the A in A&M Records, was born.
1949 | RCA Victor introduced the 45rpm single.
1955 | Guitarist Angus Young of AC/DC was born in Scotland.
1976 | Led Zeppelin released their seventh and final studio album Presence.
1994 | Madonna appeared on The Late Show With David Letterman. She handed Letterman a pair of her panties and told him to sniff them. He declined.
1995 | Jimmy Page was rushed by a knife-wielding fan during a Page and Plant gig in Michigan. The attacker was stopped by two security guards.
