March 23

John Lennon's American nightmare intensified today in 1973 when immigration authorities ordered him to leave the US within 60 days, the Nixon administration's vindictive deportation attempt targeting the former Beatle's anti-war activism before courts eventually granted him permanent residency…

 

Pop's most photogenic couple united today in 1985 when Billy Joel married supermodel Christie Brinkley on a boat moored alongside the Statue of Liberty, beginning the nine-year marriage that produced daughter Alexa before divorce ended rock's most glamorous union…

 

The Beatles lost their most loyal soldier today in 2008 when Neil Aspinall died at 66 from lung cancer in New York, ending the life of the former road manager who had run Apple Corps for four decades while protecting the band's legacy…

 

We remember new wave's coolest architect Ric Ocasek on his birthday today in 1944, the Cars frontman whose detached vocals and striking looks made the band MTV darlings while his production work for Weezer proved his influence extended beyond "Just What I Needed" before his death in 2019…

 

Funk's fiercest queen Chaka Khan celebrates her 72nd birthday today, born Yvette Marie Stevens, the powerhouse vocalist whose work with Rufus and solo hits like "I'm Every Woman" made her one of R&B's most respected and sampled voices across five decades…

 

Britpop's most ambitious chameleon Damon Albarn turns 58 today, the Blur frontman whose cartoon project Gorillaz proved more enduring than his band's rivalry with Oasis while his restless creativity kept him relevant across multiple decades and genres.