Very Important

Outlaw gang leader Jesse James is killed aged 34 in St. Joseph, Missouri, USA, by Robert Ford, a member of the gang living in the James house, hoping to collect the substantial reward on James' head. Numerous songs will tell the story of James' life and death, including Jesse James [1944] by Woody Guthrie; Jesse James [1961] by The Kingston Trio; Frank And Jesse James [1976] by Warren Zevon, and as an analogy in I Feel Like a Bullet [In the Gun of Robert Ford] by Bernie Taupin and Elton John.

Sam John Hopkins is born in Centerville, Texas, USA. he will find international success as country blues singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional pianist, Lightnin' Hopkins.

The Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League creates The Red, Black And Green flag as a response to the song Every Race Has A Flag But The Coon by Heelan and Helf. That song, along with Coon Coon Coon and All Coons Look Alike To Me were later identified by H.L. Mencken as being the songs which firmly established the derogatory term "coon" in the American vocabulary.

Paul Whiteman And His Orchestra record their version of the song Gloomy Sunday, for Victor Records in the USA. Written in 1933, Gloomy Sunday would quickly acquire a reputation as The Suicide Song because many of those who sang it came to premature ends, and also because many people were said to have committed suicide while listening to it.

Frank Sinatra records The Birth Of The Blues, Azure-Te (Paris Blues), Luna Rossa, Tennessee Newsboy and Bim Bam Baby for Columbia Records in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Jeffrey Lee Pierce is born in Montebello, California, USA. He will find success as leader of The Gun Club.

Ricky Valance's death disc, Tell Laura I Love Her, reaches No1 in the UK pop singles chart, making Valance the first Welsh male vocalist to reach No1 in the UK. The song is a cover version of an American hit by Ray Peterson.

Jazz pianist, band leader and recording artist Sonny Clark dies, aged 31, in New York City, USA. The cause of his death is listed as a heart attack, but it is widely believed to have been caused by a heroin overdose.

Dave Van Ronk records Green Rocky Road, Death Letter Blues, St. Louis Tickle and Whoa Back Buck! for Folklore Records in New York City, USA. The tracks will appear on his album, In The Tradition.

Floyd Cramer, with Chet Atkins as his producer, records Vaya Con Dios, Have You Ever Been Lonely, Near You and The Green Leaves Of Summer in RCA Victor Studio, 1611 Hawkins Street, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

John Coltrane records his album Sun Ship, at RCA Studios, New York City, USA. It will not be released until 1971 after his death.

Charlie Louvin records Making Plans at his first recording session since the death of his brother and former duet partner, Ira Louvin.

The Jackson 5 release their debut single, Big Boy, on Steeltown Records in the USA.

Mary Ann Ganser of The Shangri-Las dies of a drug overdose, aged 22, in Queens, New York City, USA. The cause of her death is variously said to have been drugs, a seizure or encephalitis.

Fifties actor/singing star Sal Mineo is stabbed to death by a pizza delivery man in the alley behind his apartment near Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, California, USA, at the age of 37.

Actor William Holden dies alone at home in Santa Monica, California, USA. While intoxicated, he slips on a rug, severely lacerating his forehead on a bedside table, and bleeds to death. His death will inspire the 2018 song The Day William Holden Died by Dan Stuart, and is also referred to in Suzanne Vega's 1987 song Tom's Diner.

At his home in St Catherine's, Jamaica, Caribbean, reggae artist Prince Far I is shot dead by gunmen during a robbery. His death will inspire the song Sept. 15th 1983 by The Mountain Goats.

Hugh Cornwell plays his last gig with The Stranglers at Alexandra Palace, London, England, UK.

Mia Zapata, lead singer for Seattle-based punk band The Gits is beaten, strangled and possibly raped, in the Central District of Seattle, Washington, USA. The Seattle music community, including its most famous bands - Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden - will help raise $70,000 to hire a private investigator for three years, but no killer is ever identified.

English-born soul / neo-soul and R'n'B singer and songwriter Ephraim Lewis dies dies after having apparently jumped from a fourth floor balcony in Los Angeles, California, USA. His death will be ruled as suicide, but some reports say that LAPD officers stunned him with a Taser after a hyperactive exchange, perhaps connected to his use of methamphetamine.

Lou Reed appears in the New York City tv studios of Saturday Night Live to confirm that widespread rumours of his death from an overdose of Demerol have been somewhat exaggerated.

A series of four co-ordinated suicide attacks on the USA, usually referred to as The 9/11 Attacks, take place in New York City and Washington, D.C. Terrorists from the Islamist militant group Al-Qaeda hijack four passenger jets and deliberately crash two of them, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. Another plane, American Airlines Flight 77, is crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth jet, United Airlines Flight 93, crashes into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after passengers attempt to take control before it can reach its intended target in Washington, D.C. Nearly 3,000 people die in the attacks. Several songs will be written about the attacks including The Rising by Bruce Springsteen, Let's Roll by Neil Youn, Wall Street by Van Dyke Parks and This Ain't No Rag, It's A Flag by Charlie Daniels. The track 9-11-01 by Soulfly consists of one minute of silence. Several songs on Trouble Is Real, the debut LP by Johnathan Rice, are about the attacks, including City On Fire, Put Me In Your Holy War, and Salvation Day.

Singer and tv show host Charlotte Church becomes a mother for the second time, giving birth to a baby boy at her farmhouse in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, UK, with her rugby player boyfriend Gavin Henson at her side.

Within hours of the news of his death, Michael Jackson's albums occupy the Top 15 places on online retailer Amazon.com Inc's best-selling albums.

Ken Schoppmeyer an acclaimed blues harmonica player who led the King Biscuit Blues band for over ten years, commits suicide in a hotel room in Oceanside, San Diego, California, USA, aged 60.

Newly-released legal documents reveal that the estate of Michael Jackson has earned over $300m since the singer's death in June 2009. This amount includes earnings from album sales, movies, licensing arrangements and licencing deals for Cirque du Soleil shows.

Lady Gaga posts a Twitter message revealing that she has spent recent days "reflecting, crying and yelling" because of her grief and anger following the death of 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer of Williamsville, New York State, USA, who took his own life because of bullying. "Bullying must become illegal," she Tweets. "It is a hate crime. I am meeting with our president. This must end. Our generation has the power to end it."

Bob Weston, who played guitar with Fleetwood Mac in the early 70s, is found dead, aged 64, by police at his home in Brent Cross, London, England, UK, Europe. The cause of death is reported to have been a gastrointestinal hemorrhage.

A two-day trial opens in Davidson County Probate Court, Tennessee, USA, to determine how royalties for the late Jim Reeves' recordings will be split. Although Reeves died almost fifty years ago, his work still generates $400,000 per year. Terry Davis, who was married to Jim Reeves' widow for thirty years until her death in 1999, feels that he should receive part of those royalties.

During the Earth Is On Hell tour, Anthrax, Death Angel and Testament play at The Orange Peel, Asheville, North Carolina, USA.

An individual going by the name of @Gunn2urhead begins sending death threats via Twitter to Shirley Manson, the singer with Garbage. On this day alone, over 200 threats are sent.

Los Angeles Superior Court approves a search wa rrant for police to investigate the identity of an individual going by the name of @Gunn2urhead who has been sending death threats via Twitter to Shirley Manson, the singer with Garbage.

It is announced that Han Dong Geun, winner of the Birth of a Great Star 3, has been signed by Pledis Entertainment in South Korea, Asia.

It is reported that an autopsy, carried out into the recent death in Miami, Florida, USA, of Ecuadorian DJ Betty Pino, nicknamed The Queen Of Radio, has concluded that she died from complications caused by cosmetic surgery.

Symphonic metal band Beyond The Black release their debut LP, Songs Of Love And Death, on Airforce 1 Records in Germany, Europe.

Swedish DJ Avicii is found dead, aged 28, in Muscat, Oman, Western Asia. He had suffered for many years from acute pancreatitis, in part due to excessive drinking. In 2014, he had canceled numerous shows in order to recover after having his gallbladder and appendix removed.

Incognito, a rapper in the drill music scene in London, England, UK, Europe, is stabbed to death. It is later learned that he had been cleared at the Old Bailey in January of murdering Abdirahman Mohamed. Incognito is the second member of drill music group Moscow17 to have been killed on Warham Street, Camberwell, in three months.

Peter Green, founder of Fleetwood Mac and an influential British blues guitarist, dies, aged 73, in Canvey Island, Essex, England, UK, Europe. No cause of death is immediately released, but he had suffered extensive periods of mental ilness for many years.