On This Day in Music: May 23

On May 23 in music history, 52 artists were born, 18 died and 5 other milestones happened, among them The Beatles (1968), Grateful Dead (1970) and Artie Shaw (1910).

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Highlights

May 23

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Standout moments for this date.

The Beatles

Beatles open 2nd Apple Boutique at 161 New Kings Road, London

Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead's 1st performance outside of US (England)

Artie Shaw

Artie Shaw, [Arthur Arshawsky], NYC, bandleader (Come'on my House) was born

The Who

Who release rock opera "Tommy"

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Born on May 23

Alicia de Larrocha

Alicia de Larrocha, Copenhagen Denmark, pianist (Orquesta Sinfonica) was born

Andrea Lucchesi

Andrea Lucchesi, composer was born

Anne-Marie David

Anne-Marie David, French singer was born

Antoni Stolpe

Antoni Stolpe, composer was born

Antonio da Silva Leite

Antonio da Silva Leite, composer was born

Artie Shaw

Artie Shaw, [Arthur Arshawsky], NYC, bandleader (Come'on my House) was born

Boris Kremenliev

Boris Kremenliev, composer was born

Bulent Arel

Bulent Arel, composer was born

Bumps Blackwell

Bumps Blackwell, rocker was born

Cristiano Bilanzola

Cristiano Bilanzola, Canadian musician and film-maker was born

Edmund Rubbra

Edmund Rubbra, Northampton England, composer (Morning Watch) [or 3/23] was born

François Feldman

François Feldman, French singer was born

General George Norman Johnson

General George Norman Johnson, US singer (Down at the Beach Club) was born

Giovanni Battista Viotti

Giovanni Battista Viotti, violonist/composer was born

Gwenno Saunders

Gwenno Saunders, Former Welsh dancer, now singer with The Pipettes was born

Heidi Range

Heidi Range, English singer (Sugababes) was born

Helen O'Connell

Helen O'Connell, Lima Ohio, singer (Green Eyes, Anapola) was born

Hellmuth Christian Wolff

Hellmuth Christian Wolff, composer was born

Humphrey Lyttelton

Humphrey Lyttelton, jazz musician/actor (It's Great to Be Young) was born

Ingeborg Hallstein

Ingeborg Hallstein, German opera singer was born

Isaak-Ignaz Moscheles

Isaak-Ignaz Moscheles, composer was born

Jackson Hill

Jackson Hill, composer was born

James Mankey

James Mankey, rocker (Concrete Blonde) was born

Jewel Kilcher

Jewel Kilcher, Payson, Utah, American singer-songwriter (Pieces of You) was born

Jimmy McShane

Jimmy McShane, Pop singer (Baltimora-Tarzan Boy) was born

Johann Caspar Vogler

Johann Caspar Vogler, composer was born

José Padilla

José Padilla, Almería, Spanish composer and pianist (La Violetera - City Lights, Ça c'est Paris - Moulin Rouge) was born

Judy Rodman

Judy Rodman, Riverside California, country singer (Girls Ride Horses Too) was born

Leo Lerman

Leo Lerman, actor/manager/critic (Dance Magazine) was born

Louis Francois Chambray

Louis Francois Chambray, composer was born

Louis Glass

Louis Glass, composer was born

M Jean Francaix

M Jean Francaix, composer was born

Mac Wiseman

Mac Wiseman, American musician was born

Malene Mortensen

Malene Mortensen, Danish singer was born

Mark Lothar

Mark Lothar, composer was born

Michel Colombier

Michel Colombier, French composer and songwriter (d. 2004) was born

Misty Morgan

Misty Morgan, country keyboardist (duo with Jack Blanchard) was born

Mónica Naranjo

Mónica Naranjo, Spanish singer was born

Nicolas-Joseph Hullmandel

Nicolas-Joseph Hullmandel, composer was born

Norman Johnson

Norman Johnson, singer/songwriter was born

Pauline Julien

Pauline Julien, French Canadian singer (d. 1998) was born

Pedro Miguel Marques y Garcia

Pedro Miguel Marques y Garcia, composer was born

Ramon "Tiki" Fulwood

Ramon "Tiki" Fulwood, US drummer (Funkadelic, Knee Deep) was born

Rosemary Clooney

Rosemary Clooney, Kentucky, singer/paper towels spokeswoman (Coronet) was born

Ruth Fernandez

Ruth Fernandez, Ponce, Puerto Rico, singer (When you Return), politician, (d. 2012) was born

Scott Raynor

Scott Raynor, American drummer (formerly of blink-182) was born

Shelly West

Shelly West, Cleve OH, country singer (Red Hot, West by West) was born

Sigurd Lie

Sigurd Lie, composer was born

Thomas Eisenhut

Thomas Eisenhut, composer was born

Thomas Hood

Thomas Hood, English poet/composer (Song of the Shirt) was born

Travis Kemp

Travis Kemp, dancer/teacher was born

Tristan Prettyman

Tristan Prettyman, American musician was born

Died on May 23

Andrej N Rimski-Korssakov

Andrej N Rimski-Korssakov, Russian musicologist/son of Nikolai, dies

Atahualpa Yupanqui

Atahualpa Yupanqui, Argentine singer/composer/poet/guitarist, dies

Charles Wesley

Charles Wesley, composer, dies at 76

Cristóbal Halffter

Cristóbal Halffter died

Georg Alfred Schumann

Georg Alfred Schumann, composer, dies at 85

Hans Koessler

Hans Koessler, composer, dies at 73

Ignace Xavier Joseph Leybach

Ignace Xavier Joseph Leybach, composer, dies at 73

Jehan de Lescurel

Jehan de Lescurel, French poet and composer

Jimmy McHugh

Jimmy McHugh, composer (Can't Give You Anything But Love), dies at 74

Joe Pass

Joe Pass, US jazz guitarist (The Trio), dies at 65

Johann Wilhelm Mangold

Johann Wilhelm Mangold, composer, dies at 78

Karel Albert

Karel Albert, Flemish composer (Marieken van Nymeghen), dies at 86

Ludwig Mathias Lindeman

Ludwig Mathias Lindeman, composer, dies at 74

Merle Kendrick

Merle Kendrick, orchestra leader (Window on the World), dies at 72

Philip Aaberg

Philip Aaberg died

Slavko Osterc

Slavko Osterc, composer, dies at 45

Wilhelm Kempff

Wilhelm Kempff, German pianist and composer (b. 1895)

William Sinnot

William Sinnot, Scottish pop musician (Shamen), dies at 30

Releases & milestones on May 23

Grateful Dead

Grateful Dead's 1st performance outside of US (England)

Noble Sissle

"Shuffle Along" 1st black musical comedy, opens in NYC

The Beatles

Beatles open 2nd Apple Boutique at 161 New Kings Road, London

The Who

Who release rock opera "Tommy"

Tom Petty

Rocker Tom Petty files chapter 11 bankruptcy

More standout moments in May →