1936
Singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson is born in Brownsville, Texas, the son of a minister. He attends Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship and receives a PhD from Pomona College in Texas. He writes several top 40 songs, including the No. 1 song "Me and Bobby McGee." His biggest solo hit is "Why Me."

1944
Peter Asher of Peter & Gordon is born in London.

1945
Howard Kaylan (Howard Kaplan) of the Turtles is born in New York City. After the Turtles disband in 1970, he and bandmate Mark Volman join Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention and later form the duo Flo & Eddie.

1948
Todd Rundgren is born in Upper Darby, Pa. He leads the groups Nazz and Utopia and produces albums for Meat Loaf, Badfinger, Grand Funk Railroad and XTC. His biggest solo hit is "Hello It’s Me."

1959
Chuck Berry's "Memphis" is released.

1961
At a recording session in Hamburg, the Beatles lay down "Ain’t She Sweet," "Cry for a Shadow," "When the Saints Go Marching In," "Why," "Nobody’s Child," and "My Bonnie."

1963
The Surfaris' "Wipe Out" is released.

1963
"Fingertips - Pt 2," by Stevie Wonder, is released.

1967
The drug possession trial of Rolling Stone members Mick Jagger and Keith Richards opens in London.

1968
The Jeff Beck group makes its U.S. debut in New York at The Fillmore East.

1968
Mason Williams' "Classical Gas" is released.

1969
Blind Faith's first and only LP is released.

1975
At New York’s Madison Square Garden, Eric Clapton joins the Rolling Stones onstage to jam on "Sympathy for the Devil."

1981
Mark David Chapman pleads guilty to killing John Lennon.

1990
Billy Joel becomes the first rock artist to perform at Yankee Stadium.

1991
Jimi Hendrix’s lyrics to "Room Full of Mirrors" sell for $35,200 at a New York auction.

1992
Tom Jones is joined during his performance at London’s Town & Country Club by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour.

1993
Ozzy Osbourne changes his mind yet again about retirement and says he will reunite with Black Sabbath for a tour.

1995
R.E.M. perform "What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?" with Dan Rather at a sound check in New York.

1998
Sir Paul McCartney personally chose and arranged the 45,000 flowers that decorate Manhattan’s Riverside Church where the friends and family of Linda McCartney gather to say a candlelit good-bye to the wife of the former Beatle.

1999
Seoul-based concert promoter Cheil Communications announces that it is reducing the number of seats from 60,000 to 50,000 for a benefit concert organized by Michael Jackson. Only a few days before the concert, about half the tickets available have been sold. Cheil claims that Korean concertgoers are not used to buying advance tickets.

2001
Lil’ Mo is injured while leaving a concert in San Francisco. The singer/songwriter is exiting a backstage area lined with fans when an unidentified man strikes her in the head with a bottle. She is rushed to California Pacific Hospital where she receives more than 20 stitches for the head wound.

2004
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" tops the American Film Institute’s (AFI) list of top movie songs. The honor for the song, famously sung by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz, is revealed at the conclusion of a three-hour 100 Years...100 Songs special on CBS TV.

2004
Organizers announce that the Lollapalooza touring festival, set to feature Morrissey, the Pixies, and String Cheese Incident as headliners, has been cancelled due to poor ticket sales.

2005
Mexican pop star Juan Gabriel is arrested in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua for alleged income tax evasion. The 55-year-old crooner of such popular songs as "Hasta que te Conoci" and "Querida" is nabbed by federal authorities upon arrival at the Ciudad Juarez airport.

2005
Coldplay’s X&Y stays atop the American album chart for a second week. Foo Fighters debut at No. 2 with their double album In Your Honor.

June 22 Birthdays

• George Vancouver 1757
• Billy Wilder 1906
• Ann Morrow Lindbergh 1907
• Mary Livingstone 1909
• Joseph Papp 1921
• Bill Blass 1922
• Ralph Waite 1928
• Kris Kristofferson 1936
• Ed Bradley 1941
• Michael Lerner 1941
• Peter Asher (Peter and Gordon) 1944
• Howard Kaylan (The Turtles) 1947
• Todd Rungren 1948
• Meryl Streep 1949
• Allen Osmond 1949
• Lindsay Wagner 1949
• Graham Greene 1952
• Freddie Prinze 1954
• Green Gartside (Scritti Politti) 1956
• Gary Beers (INXS) 1957
• Bruce Campbell 1958
• Alan Anton (Cowboy Junkies) 1959
• Jimmy Sommerville (Bronski Beat, Communards) 1961
• Amy Brenneman 1964
• Mike Edwards (Jesus Jones) 1964
• Tom Cunningham (Wet Wet Wet) 1965
• Stephen Page (Barenaked Ladied) 1970

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