August 18

 

Grunge royalty expanded on this day in 1992 when Kurt Cobain became a father as wife Courtney Love gave birth to daughter Frances Bean Cobain, adding a new chapter to one of rock's most turbulent and closely watched relationships…

 

Radio history advanced today in 1937 when the Federal Communications Commission granted the first FM radio station in the United States its construction permit, paving the way for the high-fidelity broadcasting that would revolutionize how America heard its music…

 

Country music's royal families united today in 1979 when Nick Lowe married Johnny Cash's stepdaughter Carlene Carter in Los Angeles, bringing together the British new wave producer and the Nashville singing dynasty in an unexpected musical marriage…

 

The psychedelic art world lost a visionary today in 1991 when Rick Griffin died at 47 after being forced off the road while riding his Harley-Davidson, ending the life of the artist whose concert posters and album covers defined the visual spirit of 1960s rock…

 

Hollywood's musical storyteller Elmer Bernstein died of cancer today in 2004 in Ojai, California at 82, silencing the composer whose scores for films like "The Magnificent Seven" and "To Kill a Mockingbird" brought symphonic grandeur to cinema.