1999 Country singer John Berry finds himself in high cotton at President and Mrs. George Bush’s “Milestones and Miracles” birthday celebration in Houston. Berry, Larry Gatlin and Michael W. Smith perform “O Sole Mio” together accompanied by a 52-piece orchestra.
1998 Rapper DMX (Earl Simmons) is arrested in New York on charges of rape, sodomy, and unlawful imprisonment. Simmons denies the charges, which relate to an alleged incident earlier in the week with an exotic dancer.
1998 Former Oak Ridge Boys member Steve Sanders is found dead early in the morning in Coral Gables, Fla., where he had been living. He is 45. Sanders dies from an apparently self-inflicted gun shot wound.
1998 Record companies win a victory on the House floor as lawmakers agree to a measure that would prevent recording artists from filing for bankruptcy in order to void record contracts.
1992 A Los Angeles judge throws out a $25 million palimony suit brought against British rock singer Rod Stewart by Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Kelly Emberg, his longtime girlfriend. She had claimed the couple lived together as husband and wife from 1985 to 1990. They have a child.
1982 Addie “Micky” Harris of the Shirelles dies of a heart attack at the age of 42.
1981 Andy Gibb opens in the role of Frederic in a Los Angeles production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance.”
1975 No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: “Sister Golden Hair,” America.
1941 Shirley Owens Alston of the Shirelles is born in Passaic, N.J. The group’s biggest hit is “Soldier Boy,” which tops Billboard’s Hot 100 for three weeks in 1962.
1910 Bluesman Howlin’ Wolf (Chester Arthur Burnett) is born in West Point, Miss. Four of his singles make the top 10 on Billboard’s R&B chart. He dies of cancer in 1976.