1959 – 22 year old Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens, aged 17, died in a crash shortly after take-off from Clear Lake, Iowa. The pilot of the plane was also killed. Buddy Holly had hired the plane after heating problems developed on his tour bus.

The Day The Music Died

1965 – The Righteous Brothers were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with the Phil Spector song ‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.

1967 –The Beatles spent a second day at Knole Park, Sevenoaks, Kent, England to complete filming for the ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ promotional video. The film was shot in colour, for the benefit of the US market, since UK television was still broadcasting only in black and white. Taking time out from filming John Lennon bought a 1843 poster from an antiques shop in Surrey which provided him with most the lyrics for The Beatle’s song ‘Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite’.

1976 -ABBA knocked Queen from the UK No.1 position on the UK singles chart with ‘Mamma Mia.’ Queen’s single ‘Bohemian Rhapsody ‘ had enjoyed a nine week run at the top of the charts and by coincidence, Queen’s single contains the famous “mamma mia, mamma mia, mamma mia let me go” line.

1982 – Kraftwerk were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘The Model / Computer Love’, the first German act to score a UK No.1 single. The song spent 21 weeks on the UK chart.

1983 – Karen Carpenter died aged 32 of a cardiac arrest at her parent’s house in Downey, California; the coroner’s report gave the cause of death of imbalances associated with anorexia nervosa.

1989 –George Michael received undisclosed damages in excess of £100,000 from The Sun newspaper over articles printed that stated Michael had gate crashed a party given by Van Morrison described becoming a Sir as “amazing” and “exhilarating” and was drunk and abusive.

1990 – The Stone Roses were granted conditional bail by Wolverhampton Magistrates court after the band had trashed their record company’s offices.

1990 – Billy Idol suffered serious injuries when he failed to pull up at a stop sign and crashed from his Harley-Davidson motorbike into a car.

1995 – Richey Edwards guitarist with the Manic Street Preachers vanished leaving no clues to his whereabouts. He left The Embassy Hotel in London at 7am, leaving behind his packed suitcase. His car was found on the Severn Bridge outside Bristol, England sixteen days later. He has never been found, despite constant searching, and in November 2008 he was declared officially dead.

2004 – Janet Jackson’s right breast became the most searched-for image in net history; her breast was seen by millions on TV after Justin Timberlake pulled at her bodice during a duet. Search engines reported a big jump in searches for Janet Jackson and Super Bowl, as people turned to the web for images of the event.

2011 – Irish guitarist and singer Gary Moore died aged 58 in his sleep of a heart attack in his hotel room while on holiday in Estepona, Spain. Moore had been a member of Skid Row, Thin Lizzy, and Colosseum II, before going solo, scoring the 1979 UK No.8 single ‘Parisienne Walkways’

Sir Ivan Morrison is made a Knight Bachelor of the British Empire by the Prince of Wales during an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday February 4, 2016. See PA story ROYAL Investiture. Photo credit should read: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire
Van Morrison described becoming a Sir as “amazing” and “exhilarating”

2016 – Van Morrison described becoming a Sir as “amazing” and “exhilarating” after receiving a knighthood from the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace. He received his knighthood for services to the music industry and tourism in Northern Ireland.