May 19th

2009:  Billy Joel’s former drummer of 30 years Liberty DeVitto filed a lawsuit against Billy Joel & Sony Music claiming he was owed 10 years of royalties.  The lawsuit would be resolved the following April.

2000:  The Allman Brothers Band announced that longtime guitarist Dickey Betts had left the band due to “personal and professional reasons”.

1996:  Peter Frampton, The Smashing Pumpkins and Sonic Youth made guest appearances on The Simpsons where they were on tour as part of a music festival that Homer Simpson joined as a carnival freak.

1992:  Aerosmith donated $10,000 to MIT in Boston to fund an explicit exhibition of photographs & sculptures after the National Endowment for the Arts pulled support.

1986:  Peter Gabriel released his fifth album So which was his first solo album not titled Peter Gabriel.  It later went on to reach number two on the Billboard 200 Album Chart & sell five million copies in the U.S.

1979:  George Harrison, Paul McCartney, & Ringo Starr performed together for the first time since the breakup of The Beatles at the wedding reception of Eric Clapton & Patti Boyd.  Joining them for a jam session included Clapton, Ginger Baker & Mick Jagger.

1979:  Supertramp reached the top of the Billboard 200 album chart for the first and only time with Breakfast in America which began a six non-consecutive week run on top of the chart.

1978:  Dire Straits released their debut major label single “Sultans of Swing”.

1976:  After falling asleep at the wheel, Keith Richards crashed his Bentley in Buckinghamshire, England.  Police discovered cocaine & LSD in the car.

Birthdays:
Pete Townshend-guitarist for The Who born in 1945
Steve Currie-bassist for T. Rex born in 1947
Dusty Hill-bassist for ZZ Top born in 1949
Joey Ramone-singer for The Ramones born in 1951
Phil Rudd-drummer for AC/DC born in 1954