May 16th

2010:  Ronnie James Dio, singer for Rainbow, Black Sabbath & Dio died of stomach cancer in Houston.  He was 67 years old.

1998:  Keith Richards broke his ribs after falling off of a ladder in his library, which caused the Rolling Stones to reschedule several dates of their European tour in support of Bridges to Babylon.

1987:  David Crosby married longtime girlfriend Jan Dance in Los Angeles.  Stephen Stills gave away the bride.  During the ceremony, Graham Nash & his wife Susan renewed their wedding vows to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary.

1987:  U2 topped the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart for the first time with the song “With or Without You” which stayed on top for three weeks.

1984:  Ozzy Osbourne was arrested in Memphis, TN on charges of public intoxication on Beale Street.  According to the police report, Osbourne was “staggering drunk”.

1977:  Foreigner received their first Gold record for their self-titled debut album, which later went on to sell five million copies in the U.S.

1969:  Pete Townshend spends the night in a New York City jail after assaulting a man who jumped onstage during a Who concert at The Filmore East.  It turned out that this man was a plainclothes police officer trying to warn the audience that a fire had broken out, which Townshend wasn’t aware of.

1966:  Jeff Beck recorded “Beck’s Bolero” which would be the B-Side of his debut single “Hi Ho Silver Lining” at IBC Studios in London.  The song was written by Jimmy Page who also played on the song along with John Paul Jones and Keith Moon.

1966:  The Beach Boys released Pet Sounds, an album considered by many to be one of the best & most influential albums in popular music.

Birthdays:
Robert Fripp-guitarist for King Crimson born in 1946
Darrell Sweet-drummer for Nazareth born in 1947
Krist Novoselic-bassist for Nirvana born in 1965