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The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California, USA, is demolished. The hotel included the legendary night-spot Cocoanut Grove. Bing Crosby began his career there crooning to the dancers. The venue became a regular hang out for the Rat Pack in the fifties. Sammy Davis Jr. recorded a live album in Cocoanut Grove, as did Judy Garland when she staged her comeback there. Roy Orbison's acclaimed Black And White Night DVD was filmed there with a star studded back-up band including Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne and Elvis Costello.
Sting is given the Gabriela Mistral Award in Chile, South America, in recognition of his work defending human rights. Sting's 1980 hit, They Dance Alone, was written as a tribute to the mothers of those who disappeared under the rule of Chile's former military leader, General Augusto Pinochet.
It is announced that a dog-sized dinosaur, whose remains were recently discovered on the island of Madagascar, has been named Masiakasaurus knopfleri in honour of guitarist and songwriter Mark Knopfler, whose music inspired the team of palaeontologists who made the discovery.
Noel Gallagher of Oasis and his pregnant girlfriend Nicole Appleton of All Saints arrive back in London, England, UK, after a trip to Miami, Florida, USA.
While en route to a recording session for their second album, Satellite, the band P.O.D. is held up in traffic. The delay is caused by a shooting at nearby S antana High School, Santee, California, USA, where fifteen-year-old student Charles Andrew Williams has killed two and wounded thirteen. Horrified by the incident, the band will write the song Youth Of The Nation which will appear on Satellite and will be released as a single.
Judy Garland's rendition of Over The Rainbow is chosen by The US National Endowment for the Arts, in conjunction with the RIAA, as No1 in the Top Ten songs of the 20th century. Over the Rainbow first appeared in the movie The Wizard Of Oz in 1939, but it was almost dropped from the film because MGM chief executive Louis B. Mayer and producer Mervyn LeRoy felt that it slowed down the action too much.
The home of former Spice Girls member Geri Halliwell in London, England, UK, Europe, is broken into. The intruders scrawl obscene notes on the walls, steal Halliwell's computer and hi-fi and throw milk and fruit drink at the walls. They also steal a necklace that formerly belonged to actress Liz Taylor.Jazz flutist, saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger Moe Koffman dies of cancer, aged 72, in Orangeville, Ontario, Canada. He is best-remembered for his internationally successful 1958 hit single Swingin' Shepherd Blues.
Tim McGraw releases a new album, Set This Circus Down, on Curb Records in the USA.
Wiltshire pop star Billie Piper marries radio deejay Chris Evans in a secret ceremony at the Little Church of the West in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Brian Pendleton, the original bassist/guitarist for The Pretty Things, is found dead, aged 57, by the door of his flat in Maidstone, Kent, UK. He had been suffering from lung cancer.
Blues-rock singer Top Jimmy, a colourful and inspirational presence on the Los Angeles music scene with his band Top Jimmy And The Rhythm Pigs in the 1980s, dies aged 46 of liver failure in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Madonna's Drowned World tour, her first in eight years, sets off from Palau Saint Jordi Arena, Barcelona, Spain.
The four-day long Larmer Tree Festival near Salisbury begins. Acts appearing over the weekend include Van Morrison, Eric Bibb, John Herald, Shooglenifty, Nick Harper and Cara Dillon.
Songs in A Minor, the debut album by Alicia Keys reaches No1 in the Billboard 200 Albums chart in the USA.
Eminem is granted a visa to perform in Australia, Oceania, despite Australian Prime Minister John Howard declaring, "I find the lyrics of people like that quite sickening." The terms of Eminem's visa require him to, "respect Australia's multi-cultural society and avoid vilifying or inciting discord in the community."Richie Lee, vocalist with Acetone, is found dead at home in Los Angeles, California, having committed suicide aged 34.
Songs in A Minor the debut album by Alicia Keys is certified as a US double platinum disc by the R.I.A.A.
Frank Marino And Mahogany Rush play at The House of Blues, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
It is reported that, despite having sold over 15,000 tickets, The Red Hot Chili Peppers have cancelled their late August concert in Tel Aviv due to Israel's current political unrest.US jazz saxophonist Jay Migliori, who worked with Frank Zappa, Frank Sinatra and many others, dies aged 70.
The innovative video for Fatboy Slim's Weapon Of Choice, which features charismatic actor Christopher Walken dancing in a hotel, wins six awards at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Yoko Ono places a full-page announcement in the New York Times which reads, "Imagine all the people living life in peace." The words, a quote from John Lennon's song Imagine, are her response to the World Trade Center tragedy.
US radio network Clear Channel Communications fires controversial hip-hop journalist Davey D from his post as Community Affairs Director at KMEL/San Francisco. The move is widely interpreted as an attempt to silence any voice which airs views at odds with the official US government stance on the World Trade Center attack.Singer-songwriter Barb Jungr spends the first of three days at Mark Angel Studios, London, UK, recording her album Every Grain Of Sand : Barb Jungr Sings Bob Dylan for Linn Records. Every song on the album is written by Bob Dylan.
During his show at the Biscuits And Blues Club, San Francisco, California, USA, Country Joe McDonald is served with legal papers concerning the similarity of his song I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die to Kid Ory's earlier composition, Muskrat Ramble.
Rapper Jay-Z pleads guilty in court to having stabbed record producer, Lance 'Un' Rivera, in an argument about bootlegging.The tribute album Forever Young: A Tribute To Bob Dylan is released. The album includes cover versions of songs written by Bob Dylan, performed by folk artists including Fairport Convention, The Albion Band, Show Of Hands and Magna Carta.
The Dave Matthews Band cancels an international tour because of the recent attacks on the World Trade Center.
Nick Mason of Pink Floyd participates in the annual London to Brighton Vintage Car Run in the UK coming in 23rd out of more than 200 vehicles.In Carlisle, UK, an attack of repetitive strain injury in the left arm of Status Quo guitarist Rick Parfitt, causes the band to cancel dates in their current tour.
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Jazz impresario Norman Granz dies of cancer in Geneva, Switzerland, Europe, aged 83. Said to have been the first jazz millionaire, Granz founded the historic Jazz At The Philharmonic concerts, launched and ran four record labels, including Verve Records, and managed the careers of Ella Fitzgerald and Oscar Peterson, to name but two.
Toni Braxton, at the age of 34, gives birth to her first child, a son Denim Cole Braxton-Lewis.
Richie Sambora and Jon Bon Jovi perform a tribute to the recently deceased George Harrison of The Beatles, at the My VH1 Music Awards show which is broadcast from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Grady Martin, celebrated guitarist in the Nashville, Tennessee, USA, session crew known as The A Team, dies aged 72, at Marshall Medical Center in Lewisburg, Tennnnessee, USA. In a long and distinguished career, he had played with Hank Williams, Chet Atkins, Elvis Presley, Merle Travis and Willie Nelson. Martin's guitar is heard prominently on hits including El Paso and Oh, Pretty Woman.Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction spends the third of eight days in the Sudan, North West Africa, as part of a mission, organised by he humanitarian group Christian Solidarity International, to free Southern Sudanese slaves from their Northern masters.
