Rock 'n' Roll History for
May 13


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1955 - ClassicBands.com

May 13
Elvis Presley's performance in Jacksonville, Florida is the first Presley show at which a riot ensues. After Elvis tells the audience, "Girls, I'll see you backstage," the crowd rushes toward him and an uproar spilled into the streets. A group cornered the singer in his dressing room and tore some of his clothes in an attempt to grab a souvenir.

1958 - ClassicBands.com

May 13
Jerry Lee Lewis is granted a divorce from wife number two, Jane Mitcham, six months after marrying his second-cousin, Myra Gayle Brown.

1966 - ClassicBands.com

May 13
The Rolling Stones release "Paint It Black", one of the first Rock records to use a sitar. The single will hit number one in both the UK and the US and enjoyed a lengthy chart run in both countries. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2018, and Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song at #213 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

May 13
Just two months after topping the Hot 100 with "Love Is Here And Now You're Gone", The Supremes repeated that feat with "The Happening". The song is often remembered for being the last one credited to just "The Supremes", and was the last number one that Florence Ballard recorded.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

May 13
At Abby Road Studios, Badfinger records "No Matter What", which will reach #8 in the US and #5 in the UK near the end of the year. Produced by Beatles' assistant, Mal Evans, it was also a Top Ten hit in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

May 13
On his twenty-first birthday Stevie Wonder received his childhood earnings. Despite having made $30 million so far, he was given only $1 million.

May 13
Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane totaled her Mercedes when she crashed into a wall near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Fortunately, she walked away with little more than a few bumps and bruises.

1974 - ClassicBands.com

May 13
More than fifty people are hurt when trouble makers start throwing bottles outside a Jackson 5 concert at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C. Forty-three were arrested.

1977 - ClassicBands.com

May 13
Linda Ronstadt denies reports that she'd been offered $1 million to be photographed nude for a Hustler magazine centerfold. Publisher Larry Flynt offered the amount to ten famous women, none of whom accepted.

May 13
EMI in Britain and Capitol Records in the US release The Beatles "Live at the Hollywood Bowl", an album made from live recordings of The Beatles' American tours of 1964 and 1965.

1978 - ClassicBands.com

May 13
After singing background vocals for Eric Clapton's "I Shot The Sheriff" in 1974, Yvonne Elliman had a US number one hit of her own with "If I Can't Have You". The song reached #4 in the UK.

May 13
Just days after breaking his leg in a softball game, Jimmy Buffett appears on Saturday Night Live, where he sings "Son Of A Son Of A Sailor".

1981 - ClassicBands.com

May 13
Joan Webber, who led the Billboard Top 100 chart in early 1955 with "Let Me Go, Lover", died of heart failure in a mental institution in Ancora, New Jersey at the age of 45. Although the song sold over one million copies and was awarded a Gold Record, further recording success eluded her. After singing in nightclubs for a few years, she entered the sanitarium and returned any royalty checks that were sent to her.

1985 - ClassicBands.com

May 13
Stevie Wonder was cited by the United Nations for his efforts against apartheid.

1986 - ClassicBands.com

May 13
Ted Nugent appears on Dr. Ruth Westheimer's TV show and tells the audience "Life is one big female safari and Dr. Ruth is my guide."

2002 - ClassicBands.com

May 13
A battery charge against Soul singer Lou Rawls was dismissed for insufficient evidence. The 67-year-old Rawls was arrested last January 15th for allegedly shoving his girlfriend, Nina Inman, during an argument about their relationship.

May 13
Eddie Money appears on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens. Money, and his longtime band-mate, Jimmy Lyon, make a cameo appearance during the in-home concert they perform for Doug, Arthur, and Deacon.

2003 - ClassicBands.com

May 13
Michael Jackson filed a law suit against Motown Records and parent company Universal Music Group (UMG) in an attempt to obtain the rights to all masters of material he recorded for the label from 1969 to 1976. The suit alleged nonpayment of Jackson 5 royalties and unauthorized usage of the group's music in TV commercials. Superior Court Judge Emilie Elias later found that Jackson gave up the rights to the pre-1980 tunes and that Universal had not unlawfully used his recordings.

2008 - ClassicBands.com

May 13
The Turtles' Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman sue their former label Capitol Records for breach of contract and copyright infringement, after their 1972 song "Buzz Saw" was sampled by rapper Ice Cube in 1990.

May 13
The US Postal Service issues a 42 cent, Frank Sinatra commemorative stamp. The image used shows a young Sinatra wearing a grey suit and black fedora, taken by an uncredited photographer.

2012 - ClassicBands.com

May 13
Donald "Duck" Dunn, bass guitarist for Booker T and the MGs, passed away while touring in Japan at the age of 70. He also played on Otis Redding's "Respect" and Sam And Dave's "Hold On, I'm Comin'",

2013 - ClassicBands.com

May 13
71-year-old Aretha Franklin was forced to cancel two concerts in Illinois and Connecticut to undergo treatment for an unknown condition. She had called off a series of shows in 2010 to undergo surgery to remove a tumor.

2014 - ClassicBands.com

May 13
"Xscape", the first posthumous album of new music from Michael Jackson, was released by Epic Records. The collection of eight previously unreleased songs sold 1,410,000 copies worldwide in its first four months.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

May 13
American Idol crowned their 14th Season champion Nick Fradiani with guest appearances by The Jacksons, Chic, Steven Tyler, Michael McDonald and New Kids On The Block.

2019 - ClassicBands.com

May 13
Doris Day, who scored two Billboard Top Ten hits in 1956 with "Whatever Will Be Will Be" (#2) and "Everybody Loves A Lover" (#6), passed away at the age of 97 after contracting pneumonia. Besides making nearly forty movies, she also recorded more than six hundred songs and nearly thirty albums.

2020 - ClassicBands.com

May 13
Astrid Kirchherr, the German photographer whose early shots of The Beatles helped turn them into icons, died at the age of 81 after a short illness. While dating the band's original bassist, Stuart Sutcliffe, she cut his hair into the iconic mop top style that the group became famous for.



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