1969 - The Rolling Stones fire founding member Brian Jones, whose relationship with his bandmates has deteriorated beyond repair. Brian Jones tells the press he is leaving to "play my kind of music." Less than a month later, he is found dead at his home.
1974 - Dolly Parton was at No. 1 on the U.S. country charts with "I Will Always Love You". Elvis Presley indicated that he wanted to cover the song. Parton was interested until Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, told her that it was standard procedure for the songwriter to sign over half of the publishing rights to any song Elvis recorded. Parton refused. The song later became a worldwide No. 1 hit for Whitney Houston in 1992 when featured in The Bodyguard.
1974 - Paul McCartney and Wings went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Band On The Run'. 'George Harrison unwittingly contributed the first line of one part of the song: "If we ever get out of here" when he said it during one of the many Beatles' business meetings.
1976 - Blue Öyster Cult release their most popular album, Agents Of Fortune. Thanks to "(Don't Fear) The Reaper," it sells over a million copies in America. More cowbell...
1985 - Tears for Fears started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", the group's first U.S. No. 1. "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" is a line from the 1980 Clash song "Charlie Don't Surf." Did Tears for Fears lift it? Joe Strummer of The Clash thought so. He recounted a story to Musician magazine about confronting Roland Orzabal in a restaurant, informing Orzabal that "you owe me a fiver." Strummer said that Roland reached in his pocket and produced a five pound note, ostensibly as compensation for poaching the line for his hit title. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
2008 - Rolling Stone magazine published a list of the Top 50 guitar songs of all time. No. 5 was 'Brown Sugar' by The Rolling Stones, No. 4 'You Really Got Me' by The Kinks, No. 3 'Crossroads', by Cream, No. 2 'Purple Haze', by Jimi Hendrix and No. 1 'Johnny B Goode', Chuck Berry.
Birthdays:
Nancy Sinatra is 81.
Clarence Haskins of Parliament-Funkadelic is 80.
Bonnie Tyler is 70.
Greg Ginn, leader of Black Flag, is 67.
Mick Hucknall, of Simply Red, is 61.
Duran Duran keyboardist Nick Rhodes is 59.
Kanye West is 44.
Guitarist Derek Trucks is 42.
On This Day In Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Song Facts and Wikipedia.