March 24

The King became a soldier today in 1958 when Elvis Presley reported to the Memphis draft board and received army serial number 53310761, beginning the two-year military service that would take him to Germany while paradoxically enhancing his wholesome image and patriotic appeal…

 

Pub-rock's most clever songwriter Nick Lowe celebrates his 77th birthday today, the British bassist-producer whose "Cruel to Be Kind" and work with Elvis Costello and the Attractions proved that wit and melody could survive punk's scorched-earth approach to pop music…

 

Soul lost a Philadelphia legend today in 1997 when Harold Melvin died at 57, ending the career of the Blue Notes founder whose smooth vocals and hits like "If You Don't Know Me by Now" defined the Sound of Philadelphia before internal disputes destroyed the group…

 

Rock's strangest relationship officially ended today in 2000 when White Stripes' Jack and Meg White divorced, though the former couple continued performing together as siblings for another 11 years, maintaining the red-white-and-black mystery until the band's 2011 breakup…

 

Southern rock received municipal recognition on this day in 2001 when a stretch of Highway 19 in Macon, Georgia was named Duane Allman Boulevard, honoring the slide guitar master who had died on that very road in a 1971 motorcycle crash at age 24.