Rock History for Today, 1956 to 2005...

1956

Elvis Presley releases his album Heartbreak Hotel and single "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" on the same day.

1963

Lesley Gore performs "It's My Party" on American Bandstand.

1965

Song parodist Spike Jones dies in Bel Air, Calif. His biggest hit was "All I Want for Christmas (Is My Two Front Teeth)," and a member of his City Slickers band used to play the toilet seat. 

1966

The Beatles play their last show for a paying audience in Britain at the NME Poll Winners' Party.

1967
Elvis Presley marries Priscilla Beaulieu at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas.

1969

Neil Young releases Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere.

1969

Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash videotape a special to appear on ABC. They play Dylan's "I Threw It All Away," "Living the Blues," and "Girl From the North Country."

1970
In New York, Bob Dylan records with George Harrison. The two mess around on the Beatles' "Yesterday," Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues," and "Da Doo Ron Ron."

1972

Paul Simon releases his self-titled solo debut album, which contains the hit "Mother and Child Reunion." 

1973

Washington, D.C., declares today Marvin Gaye Day.

1973

Bachman-Turner Overdrive release their self-titled debut album.

1973
Who says Richard Nixon isn't hip? On this day the Carpenters perform at the White House for the president and West German Chancellor Willy Brandt.

1975

In one of their best-ever publicity stunts, the Rolling Stones announce their Tour of the Americas by playing "Brown Sugar" on the back of a flatbed truck driving down Manhattan's Fifth Avenue.

1977
The Clash begin their first tour of England at London's Roxy.

1986
The Rolling Stones shoot their "One Hit to the Body" video, in which Mick and Keith vent their frustrations by smacking each other during the guitar solo.

1987
A U.S. federal court rules that a British retailer cannot sell unlicensed Elvis Presley merchandise.

1988

Billy Joel is cleared of defamation charges after calling Jack Powers, a songwriter who sued Joel for plagiarism, a "creep" in a Playboy interview.

1993

A man is arrested on charges of repeatedly attempting to trespass on Michael Jackson's Encino, Calif., estate.

1993

Supermodel Naomi Campbell announces her engagement to U2 bassist Adam Clayton. The couple later break it off.

1999

An exhibition of Paul McCartney's paintings, including a portrait of David Bowie, opens in Siegen, Germany.

2000
Neil Young is sued for $1.8 million by Jimmy McDonough, a writer who claims the singer tried to block an authorized biography he had spent several years working on.

2005

Bruce Springsteen's Devils & Dust tops the U.K. album chart in its first week of release. Crooner Tony Christie's version of Paul Anka's "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo" is the No. 1 single for a seventh week. 

2005

Nine Inch Nails close the Coachella Festival in California. Other performers during the day included New Order, The Bravery and Mos Def.

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