Rock 'n' Roll History for
June 2


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1896 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
Guglielmo Marconi was granted a patent for his electro-magnetic wave communication system, later to be called radio.

1956 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
A sleepy Jazz tune called "Moonglow" by Morris Stoloff And The Columbia Pictures Orchestra pushed Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" out of the top spot on the Cashbox Best Sellers List.

1958 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
Alan Freed kicks off his new Rock 'n' Roll radio show on WABC in New York, which will run from 7:15 PM to 11:00 PM, Monday through Friday.

1962 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
Ray Charles' "I Can't Stop Loving You" sat on top of the Billboard Pop chart, making believers out those who told him he would lose his fan base if he recorded Country And Western songs. The album it came from sold over a million copies, becoming the first Gold record for ABC-Paramount.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
The Rolling Stones make their American television debut on WABC's The Les Crane Show, which was available only in New York. Crane joked about Brian Jones' "Prince Valiant" haircut, and pestered the band about the comparison between them and The Beatles.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
David Bowie released his first album, which contained the single, "Love You 'Til Tuesday". Although the LP got positive reviews, neither it or the single sold well.

1968 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
Four Jacks And A Jill become the first South African group to achieve a Billboard Top 40 hit when "Master Jack" peaks at #18. The follow-up single, "Mr. Nico", stalled at #98 and was their last US chart entry, although they continued to have success in their native country.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
Dion And The Belmonts reunited for a concert at Madison Square Garden in New York. The performance was recorded and released as a live album the following year. They had parted company a dozen years earlier after which Dion had a successful solo career, while The Belmonts managed to chart only a couple of times.

June 2
Pink Floyd release their seventh studio album, "Obscured by Clouds", in the UK. The LP would reach #6 on the UK Albums Chart, and #46 on the Billboard 200. Not one of the band's more popular albums, it took twenty-five years to be certified Gold by the RIAA, but it finally was in 1997.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
Paul McCartney, backed by his new group Wings, was back on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with a song he wrote for his wife Linda, "My Love". At the same time, the album it came from, "Red Rose Speedway" was #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart.

1978 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
Bruce Springsteen issues his fourth studio album, "Darkness on the Edge of Town", after a three year wait while he settled contractual obligations and battled his former manager, Mike Appel. The LP climbed to #5 on the Billboard 200 and sold over three million copies in America. The album's singles were only modest hits, with "Prove It All Night" reaching #33, and "Badlands" making it to #42.

1979 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
Donna Summer attains the sixth of her thirteen US Top Ten hits and the second of her four Billboard Hot 100 number one singles with "Hot Stuff". The song was a #11 hit in the UK.

1984 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
Seven days after entering the chart, Wham!'s "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" hits #1 on the UK singles chart. It would stay there for two weeks before giving way to "Two Tribes" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

1988 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
Adrienne Brown's lawyer, Allen W. Johnson, introduced a novel defense at her trial where she was answering to charges of driving under the influence of drugs, speeding and criminal trespass. Johnson claimed that Adrienne's status as the wife of James Brown, the "ambassador of Soul", gave her diplomatic immunity. Johnson reconsidered and withdrew the motion the next day.

June 2
Former Temptations lead singer David Ruffin was sentenced in Detroit to two years probation and fifty days of community service after being convicted of using cocaine. A bag containing coke residue was found with Ruffin's personal papers when police raided a house in July, 1987.

1989 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
52-year-old Rolling Stones bass guitarist Bill Wyman married 19-year-old Mandy Smith in a secret ceremony in the eastern English town of Bury St. Edmonds. Wyman's son and the bride's sister were the only guests. The couple divorced two years later after Wyman said they had spent only five days together as man and wife. Wyman agreed to an $800,000 divorce settlement.

1992 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
Rod Stewart's 22-year-old wife, Rachel Hunter, gives birth to a daughter they named Renee. The couple would also have a son, Liam McAlister Stewart, but divorced in 2006.

1998 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
The 'post-plane crash' lineup of Lynyrd Skynyrd releases the album "Lyve from Steel Town". The tracks had been recorded at Star Lake Amphitheatre in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania (outside Pittsburgh), on July 15th, 1997. Despite not cracking the Billboard 200 chart, the album was later certified Gold by the RIAA.

2002 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
Jimmy Buffett flew his biplane into a runway sign at Florida's Palm Beach International Airport, but was not injured. The Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman said the plane was pushed off the runway by a gust of wind.

2006 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
Vince Welnick, keyboard player for The Tubes and later The Grateful Dead, committed suicide. The 55-year-old musician stood on a hillside behind his Forestville home and drew a knife across his throat in front of his wife.

2008 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
Rock legend Bo Diddley died of heart failure at the age of 79. He had recently suffered a stroke and a heart attack from which he never fully recovered. Bo reached #1 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1955 with "Bo Diddley", and #4 on that chart later the same year with "Pretty Thing". His highest charting record on the Hot 100 was "Say Man", which climbed to #20 in 1959. His final words were reported to have been, "I'm goin' to heaven! I'm comin' home!"

2009 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
Cher launched a lawsuit against Universal Music Group, claiming that the label shortchanged her and the heirs of her late ex-husband, Sonny Bono, by underpaying about $5 million in royalties. A UMG spokesman said "The claims are meritless and we are confident that we will prevail in court." A judge later sided with Universal.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
After being awarded the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, Paul McCartney sings "Michelle" to First Lady Michelle Obama at a White House performance. After singing the lyrics "I love you, I love you, I love you," McCartney joked that he just might be the "first guy ever to be punched out by a president."

2015 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
A 26-year-old Cordova, Tennessee man was handed a two-year suspended sentence with probation after stealing a pair of Elton John's sunglasses from the Memphis Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last May.

2020 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
In a message of solidarity in response to the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, a number of record labels ceased business for the day. Atlantic Records, Capitol Music Group, Columbia Records, Def Jam, Universal Music Group, Sony Music, Warner Records, Interscope Geffen A&M, and many others said that June 2nd, "Blackout Tuesday" was not a day off, but rather a day to reflect and figure out ways to move forward in solidarity.

2022 - ClassicBands.com

June 2
Berklee College of Music honored Ringos Starr with a special Honorary Degree. In his acceptance speech the legendary drummer summed up his musical philosophy by saying, "You know, I just hit them. That's all I do. I just hit the buggers. And it seems to be, I hit them in the right place."



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