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Today in Music History

July, 18

  • 1999 Haroon Shamsher, who with his brother Farook, was the mainstay of Joi, a leading British-Asian fusion group and sound system, dies of a heart attack. He is 33.
  • 1999 Radney Foster becomes a new dad. The Arista Austin recording artist and former member of Foster & Lloyd and his wife, Cyndi Hoezle are the parents of baby boy, Jackson Butterfield Foster.
  • 1999 BBC Radio 1 hip-hop DJ Tim Westwood is shot in a drive-by shooting in London. He is reported in stable condition the following day.
  • 1998 The late singer/songwriter Harry Chapin – famed for donating half his concert proceeds to causes such as hunger relief – continues his humanitarian efforts through the Harry Chapin Tribute Concert. The concert features members of Chapin’s original band. Attendants are asked to bring donations of nonperishable foods.
  • 1995 The oldest known musical instrument in the world is found in the Indrijca River Valley in Slovenia. The 45,000 year-old relic, a crude wind instrument, is a bear bone with four artificial holes along its length.
  • 1995 Selena’s “Dreaming of You,” a posthumous album by the slain Tejano star, is released. It is the fastest-selling album by a female artist in pop history, with 175,000 copies purchased its first day.
  • 1992 Singer Whitney Houston and rapper Bobby Brown marry at Houston’s mansion in Mendham Township, N.J. Among the guests are Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, Gloria Estefan and Dick Clark.
  • 1988 No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Hold on to the Nights,” Richard Marx.
  • 1977 No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Looks Like We Made It,” Barry Manilow.
  • 1972 Boston Mayor Kevin White helps get Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones out of jail in Warwick, R.I., so they can make their performance at the Boston Garden. The two were arrested for getting into a scuffle with a Providence, R.I., photographer.
  • 1941 Martha Reeves is born in Alabama. Her group Martha & the Vandellas has six top 10 songs. Their biggest hit is “Dancing in the Street,” a No. 2 song in 1964.
  • 1939 Singer Dion (Dion DiMucci) is born in the Bronx, N.Y. He records with the Belmonts until 1960. They have two top five hits: “A Teenager in Love” and “Where or When.” His biggest solo hit is “Runaround Sue,” a No. 1 song for two weeks in 1961.