1925
Rock `n’ roll pioneer Bill Haley (William John Clifton Haley Jr.) is born in Highland Park, a section of Detroit. The biggest hit for Bill Haley & His Comets is the rock `n’ roll classic "(We’re Gonna) Rock Around the Clock," a No. 1 song for eight weeks in 1955.

1937
"Duke of Earl" Gene Chandler (Eugene Dixon) is born in Chicago.

1946
Sly Stallone comes to this world. Hail The Italian Stallion.

1954
Sam Phillips gives Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips (no relation) an acetate of Elvis Presley's "That's All Right (Mama)" to play on his radio show.

1955
"Baby Let's Play House" becomes Elvis Presley's first top 10 country hit.

1957
John Lennon meets Paul McCartney at a church picnic in Woolton, a suburb of Liverpool. In the church basement between sets, 15 year old McCartney teaches a 16 year old Lennon to play and sing Eddie Cochran's "Twenty Flight Rock" and Gene Vincent's "Be-Bop-A-Lula."

1963
To help recruit fans to the ballpark and because of their "wildly enthusiastic and loyal" teenage fans, the New York Mets hire several rock & roll acts like Dee Dee Sharp and Chubby Checker to play before a game.

1964
A Hard Day's Night premieres in London before Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon at the London Pavilion. The Beatles won't get a chance to see the finished film until July 10.

1965
No. 1 Hit: "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," The Rolling Stones. It is the Stones' first No. 1 single in the U.S.

1965
The Jefferson Airplane is formed in San Francisco.

1966
During a show in at Syracuse's War Memorial Hall, The Rolling Stones allegedly drag an American flag across the stage floor. Two days later, local authorities accused the group of desecrating the American flag.

1966
The New York Times report The Beatles were booed two days earlier at the airport in Manila, Philippines after they failed to make a private appearance before President Marcos, his wife, and 300 Filipino children. The group claims they were not told of the engagement. Marcos makes a statement regretting the airport incident.

1967
Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones is hospitalized after collapsing for "strain and fatigue." Jones was awaiting trial for drug possession at the time.

1967
Pink Floyd perform for the third time on the BBC's Top of the Pops, promoting their successful "See Emily Play" single.

1969
John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and her daughter Kyoko are released from a Scotland hospital after being treated for injuries suffered in a car accident days before.

1971
Trumpeter Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong dies. He had turned 71 two days earlier. He wins a Grammy in 1965 as Best Male Vocal Performance for "Hello Dolly," a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 1972 and is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 as a forefather of rock music.

1973
A new British band Queen, releases their first single, "Keep Yourself Alive."

1978
New Yorker Eddie Mahoney changes his name to Eddie Money. His debut, Eddie Money, will give him 2 big hits: "Two Tickets to Paradise" and "Baby Hold on to Me."

1979
Composer, arranger, and producer Van McCoy dies of a heart attack. His biggest mark in the music biz was "The Hustle". It turned out to be the biggest dance-craze record of the decade. He was 38.

1980
Thirty-six Ted Nugent fans are arrested at Hollywood, FL show for bottle throwing, pot smoking, and other offenses.

1987
Kris Kristofferson makes a public apology after a plaque that was given to him by a Vietnam veteran's group is found in a trash can. Kristofferson got the plaque for playing at a "Welcome Home" benefit concert for veterans two days earlier with John Fogerty, Neil Diamond, and Stevie Wonder. Kristofferson will later donate $1000 to the Vietnam Veterans Association.

1998
Acclaimed cowboy singer and actor Roy Rogers, 86, dies in his sleep at his home in the desert community of Apple Valley, Calif. The "King of the Cowboys" had been ill with congestive heart failure for some time.

2002
Jimmie Lee Robinson, a Chicago blues stalwart known for his pointed lyrics and storyteller’s sensibility is found dead in his car on Chicago’s southwest side. He is 71. He has a single gunshot wound to his head and his death is ruled a suicide.

2003
Eight people are struck by lightning before a Dave Matthews Band concert in East Troy, Wisconsin.

2004
Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, Tenacious D and Liz Phair play a Los Angeles fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

2005
Live 8 organizer Bob Geldof becomes the first member of the Boomtown Rats to ever be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

July 6 Birthdays

• John Paul Jones 1747
• Harold Vanderbilt 1884
• LaVerne Andrews (The Andrews Sisters) 1911
• Sebastian Cabot 1918
• Nancy Reagan 1921
• William Schallert 1922
• Merv Griffin 1925
• Susan Cabot 1927
• Pat Paulsen 1927
• Janet Leigh 1927
• Bill Haley (Bill Haley and His Comets) 1927
• Della Reese 1931
• Dalai Lama (Lhama Dhondrub, Tenzin Gyatso) 1935
• Ned Beatty 1937
• Gene Chandler 1937
• Jeannie Seely 1940
• James Naughton 1945
• Ric Elswit (Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show) 1945
• Burt Ward 1946
• Fred Dryer 1946
• Jamie Wyeth 1946
• James Browning 1946
• Sylvester Stallone 1946
• George W. Bush (U.S.) 1946
• Nathalie Baye 1948
• Geoffrey Rush 1951
• Shelly Hack 1952
• Grant Goodeve 1952
• Nanci Griffith 1953
• Allyse Beasley 1954
• John Jorgenson 1956
• Ron Duguay 1957
• Jon Keeble (Spandau Ballet) 1959
• Glenn Scarpelli 1968
• Tia Mowry 1978
• Tamera Mowry 1978

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