More About Music History On This Day

31 May 1982
R.E.M. signed a five-album deal with I.R.S. Records, an independent label based in California.

31 May 1986
Peter Gabriel scored his second solo UK No.1 album with 'So' featuring the singles 'Sledgehammer' and a duet with Kate Bush 'Don't Give Up'. The song was inspired by the Depression-era photographs of Dorothea Lange, showing poverty-stricken Americans in Dust Bowl conditions.

31 May 1989
David Bowie's Tin Machine made their live debut at the International Music Awards, New York. Bowie stated that he and his band members joined up "to make the kind of music that we enjoyed listening to" and to rejuvenate himself artistically.

31 May 1993
Sister Lovers, 18-Wheeler, Boyfriend and Oasis appeared at King Tuts in Glasgow, Scotland. Creation Records boss Alan McGee, who was in the audience, declared after seeing Oasis, 'I've found the greatest rock 'n' roll band since The Beatles'. McGee had missed a train at nearby Queen Street station,and decided to head to Tuts to kill time before the next one. He signed Oasis to his Creation label.

31 May 1997
Eternal started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'I Wanna Be The Only One' the girl soul trio's first - and only UK chart-topper.

31 May 1998
Geri Halliwell announced she had quit The Spice Girls saying "This is because of differences between us. I am sure the group will continue to be successful, and I wish them all the best."

31 May 2000
US soul singer Johnnie Taylor died of a heart attack in a Texas hospital shortly after his 62nd birthday. Taylor had been a member of The Highway QCs and The Five Echoes and in 1957 Taylor replaced Sam Cooke in The Soul Stirrers. He scored the 1976 US No.1 'Disco Lady'.

31 May 2003
UK police announced that thousands of people at this year's pop festivals would be subjected to a computerized drug test. Fans would be asked to provide swab samples from their hands, which would be inserted into a drug detection machine. It was to be a voluntary test, but Anti-drug officers could search anyone refusing.

31 May 2004
US guitarist Robert Quine was found dead of a heroin overdose in his New York City home. Worked with Richard Hell and The Voidoids, (1977 album 'Blank Generation' features the track 'Love Comes In Spurts') and Lou Reed, Brian Eno, Lloyd Cole, Marianne Faithfull, Tom Waits and They Might Be Giants.

31 May 2005
Former East 17 singer Brian Harvey was in a critical condition in a London hospital after he fell under the wheels of his Mercedes convertible. The accident happened outside his home in Walthamstow when Harvey was reversing from an access road into the street. The singer suffered a broken leg, pelvis and a crushed abdomen and ribs.

31 May 2006
71-year-old songwriter Hal Bynum, (whose credits include Kenny Rogers "Lucille,") and his wife were arrested and charged with growing marijuana inside their Nashville home and possessing hallucinogenic mushrooms. After receiving a tip, police searched the couple's home and confiscated 256 marijuana plants, 7.5 pounds of harvested marijuana, 14 grams of hallucinogenic mushrooms, growing lamps and other drug paraphernalia. Bynum, and his wife were released on $73,500 bond each.

31 May 2014
A car and jewelry belonging to Miley Cyrus were stolen after her home in San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles was burgled. A Maserati and an unspecified amount of jewelry were taken in the raid.

31 May 2016
A report, from the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office in Minnesota said Prince died from an accidental overdose of the painkiller fentanyl. According to the autopsy report, Prince self-administered fentanyl, an opioid many times more powerful than heroin.

31 May 2019
American singer, songwriter Roky Erickson died age 71. Erickson co-founded the 13th Floor Elevators in late 1965 who released their debut album The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators the following year. In 1968, while performing at HemisFair, Erickson began speaking gibberish. He was soon diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and sent to a Houston psychiatric hospital. Erickson released his eponymous debut as Roky Erickson and the Aliens in 1980. He recorded a steady stream of releases up until 2004.

Date & Time

May 31, 2024

Share This Event!

Add to My Calendar

Did you know you can follow any of our 175 Special Interest calendars and stay informed better than ever before? See them here. You can also create your own public or private calendar here. Post events to your calendar and ours at the same time! Terms and conditions may vary based on the policies of your local Town Planner publisher.

To learn more, watch our intro video!