Something fun for Friday:
This month in music history
1959
On 17 July Billie Holiday died, age 43, in a New York hospital from cirrhosis of the liver after years of drug and alcohol abuse. At the time, she was under arrest for heroin possession and police officers were stationed at the door to her room.
1967
On 24 July, all four Beatles and their manager Brian Epstein signed a petition – printed in The Times – calling for the legalisation of marijuana.
1968
On 20 July, Hugh Masekela started a two-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with Grazing in the Grass.
1972
On 29 July, Screaming Lord Sutch – lead vocalist of The Savages – was arrested in London after jumping from a bus in Downing Street with four nude women.
1977
On 9 July, Elvis Costello quit his job at Elizabeth Arden Cosmetics to become a full-time musician.
1980
On 7 July, Led Zeppelin played their last concert in West Berlin.
1992
On July 31, Michael Jackson appeared on his hotel balcony in London after a man told police he would leap to his death from a building across the street if he didn’t see Jackson.
1991
On 2 July, Axl Rose sparked a riot during a Guns N’ Roses gig after leaping into the crowd to snatch a fan’s camera. More than 50 people were injured and 15 fans were arrested.
2002
On 5 July, it was reported that rapper Dr Dre had become the richest music star after earning £62 million (about R688 million) in the previous year.
2003
On July 21, Coldplay’s Chris Martin was charged with malicious damage in Australia for smashing the windscreen of a photographer’s car after he’d taken pictures of Chris surfing.
*from my music pages in the Horizons magazine
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