April 4

Beatlemania reached its statistical peak today in 1964 when the Fab Four held all top five positions on the US singles chart simultaneously—"Can't Buy Me Love," "Twist and Shout," "She Loves You," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," and "Please Please Me"—a feat that has never been duplicated…

 

Hip-hop royalty met R&B royalty today in 2008 when Beyoncé Knowles married Jay-Z at his New York apartment, the secret ceremony uniting music's most powerful couple whose combined wealth and influence would make them entertainment's first billion-dollar partnership…

 

We remember the father of Chicago blues Muddy Waters on his birthday today in 1915, the Mississippi-born guitarist whose electric Delta sound influenced everyone from the Rolling Stones to Led Zeppelin while establishing the template for urban blues before his death in 1983…

 

We honor soul singer Major Lance on his birthday today in 1941, the Chicago vocalist whose "The Monkey Time" and Curtis Mayfield collaborations made him a Northern soul favorite before his career was derailed by drug problems and his death in 1994…

 

Music industry's most powerful executive Clive Davis was born on this day in 1932, the A&R legend who discovered Whitney Houston, Janis Joplin, and countless others while building multiple record labels and proving that suits could have genuine ears for talent…

 

We remember the Allman Brothers Band's melodic bassist Berry Oakley on his birthday today in 1948, the musician whose death in a 1972 motorcycle crash just three blocks from where Duane Allman had died the previous year created Southern rock's most eerie and tragic coincidence.