April 1
• 1984: Marvin Gaye is shot to death by his father during an argument, one day before his 45th birthday.
• 1948: Jimmy Cliff is born
April 2
• 1947: Emmylou Harris is born
• 1939: Marvin Gaye is born
April 3
• 1996: MC Hammer files for bankruptcy
• 1969: Jim Morrison turns himself over to the FBI in Los Angeles and is charged with six counts of lewd behavior and public exposure at a concert in Miami
April 4
• 1996: Half of the late Jerry Garcia’s ashes are scattered in the Ganges River in India
• 1968: Jimi Hendrix, B.B. King and Buddy Guy meet up for an all night blues session after hearing the news of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination.
April 5
• 1994: Kurt Cobain, 27, commits suicide
• 1985: At 3:50 p.m. GMT, an estimated 5,000 radio stations around the globe simultaneously play “We Are the World”
April 6
• 1968: Pink Floyd announces that Syd Barrett has officially left the group
April 7
• 1998: George Michael is arrested in a Beverly Hills bathroom for “engaging in a lewd act”
April 10
• 1970: Paul McCartney announces he quit The Beatles.
April 11
• 1970: The single “Let It Be” by The Beatles hits number one.
April 12
• 2000: Napster Inc. is sued by Metallica
April 15
• 1996: Half of the late Jerry Garcia’s ashes are scattered by the Golden Gate Bridge
April 18
• 1970: Johnny Cash plays for President Nixon at the White House
April 18
• 1993: Police arrest David Lee Roth in New York City for buying a $10 bag of marijuana
April 22
• 1950: Peter Frampton is born, or “comes alive,” if you will
• 1969: The Who give their first complete live performance of the rock opera “Tommy”
April 23
• 1988: Whitney Houston becomes the first artist to hit No. one on the U.S. Hot 100 chart with seven consecutive singles
April 24
• 1975: SNL producer Lorne Michaels makes on-air offer to pay $3000 for a Beatles reunion on the show.
• 1968: During a birthday celebration The Who’s Keith Moon drives his Lincoln into a Holiday Inn swimming pool.
April 25
• 1990: Jimi Hendrix’s Woodstock Fender Stratocaster fetches $295,000 at auction
April 28
• 1987: For the first time a CD is released before its vinyl version
April 30
• 1983: Blues legend Muddy Waters dies of a heart attack at the age of 68
• 2005: The Dave Matthews Band pays $200,000 in damages after their tour bus dumped human waste onto a boatload of tourists in Chicago in August of 2004.
