May 1
1990: Italian singer Sergio Franchi died of cancer in Stonington, CT.

May 2
1997: Tito Puente celebrated his 50th year of playing Latin music.

May 4
1959: Miriam Makeba becomes the first South African to win a Grammy Award for the album "An Evening with Harry Belafonte & Miriam Makeba." 1992: Dudu Mntowaziwayo Ndlovv (Dudu Zulu), musician with Johnny Clegg & Savuka, died of a gunshot wound in Zululand, South Africa at age 33. 1998: Tens of thousands of young fans shut down central Tokyo to traffic in an outpouring of grief for X-Japan guitarist "Hideto" Matsumoto, who hanged himself five days earlier.

May 5
1953: Martin Simpson, Celtic folk guitarist, born in Scunthorpe, South Humberside, England.

May 6
1958: Lolita (Dolores González Flores), Spanish singer, actress, born.

May 7
1905: Castro Barbosa (Joaquim Silvério de Castro Barbosa), Latin jazz singer, born in Brazil.

May 8
1911: Robert Johnson, early blues musician, born in Hazlehurst, MS.

May 9
1944: César Costa Filho, Brazilian composer, born. 1948: Tânia Maria (Correa Reis Maria), Brazilian jazz vocalist, pianist, born in Sao Luis. 1970: Ricarde Belled, musician, born in The Hague, The Netherlands.

May 10
1952: Sly Dunbar, reggae musician, born in Kingston, Jamaica. 1958: Ahdri Zhina Mandiela, Jamaica dub poet, born. 1986: Nigerian singer Fela Kuti is released from prison in Lagos after serving 20 months of a five-year currency violations charge that many feel was trumped up.

May 11
1925: Lázaro Ros, Cuban singer, born in Havana. 1981: Bob Marley, reggae king, died of cancer in Miami, Florida at the age of 36.

May 12
1932: Walter Wanderley, Latin jazz keyboardist, born in Recife, Brazil. 1966: Bebel Gilberto, Brazilian singer, born in New York, NY.

May 13
1935: Rolo Martinez, Latin jazz musician, born in Cayo Hueso, Havana. 1941: Ritchie Valens, Latin and rock & roll singer, born in Pacoima, CA.

May 14
1952: David Byrne, singer, founder of Luaka Bop Records, born in Dumbarton, Scotland. 1987: Frank Sinatra made his anti-apartheid feelings clear by calling South African President P. W. Botha "a bum."

May 15
1948: Brian Eno, ambient pioneer, born in Woodbridge, England.

May 16
1964: Levon Ichkhanian, Middle Eastern musician, born in Beirut, Lebanon.

May 17
1919: Antonio Aguilar, singer, born in Villanueva, Zacatecas, Mexico. 1942: Taj Mahal (Henry St. Clair Fredericks), blues singer, born in New York, NY. 1961: Enya (Enya Ni Bhraonain), Celtic singer, born in Donegal, Ireland. 1969: "Israelites," by Jamaican reggae group Desmond Dekker & The Aces, entered the US pop singles chart. 1986: Some of Ireland's best-known musicians played a benifit concert in Dublin to raise money to support initiatives to improve prospects for the young in Ireland.

May 18
1957: Michael Cretu, Enigma, born in Rome, Italy.

May 19
1919: Pete Seeger, American folk singer, born in New York, NY. 1984: Bob Marley topped the UK album charts for the first time with "Legend," three years after his death. 1987: Bob Marley's surviving Wailers called for an investigation of the late reggae king's estate after having Rita Marley ousted as executor of his will.

May 20
1935: Dino Saluzzi (Timoteo Saluzzi), Argentenian accordion player, born in Campo Santo. 1959: Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Hawaiian entertainer, born in the Honolulu suburb of Kaimuki.

May 21
1985: Thailand's mass communications organization banned Murray Head's "One Night In Bangkok" because it's lyrics "caused misunderstanding about Thai society and showed disrespect towards Buddhism."

May 22
1914: Sun Ra (Herman Sonny Blount), fusion musician, born in Birmingham, Alabama. 1924: Charles Aznavour, French singer, born. 1981: The funeral for reggae star Bob Marley was held in his hometown of St. Annes, Jamaica.

May 23
1955: Luka Bloom (Barry Moore), folk singer/songwriter, born in in Newbridge, Ireland. 1974: Mónica Naranjo, Euro-pop singer, born in Figueras, Spain.

May 24
1941: Bob Dylan, American folk singer, born in Duluth, MN.

May 25
1963: Kyu Sakamoto's "Sukiyaki," released in Japan under its actual title "Ue O Muite Aruko" (I Look Up When I Walk), broke into the US pop singles top 40. It would spend 3 weeks at #1 and become a million seller worldwide.

May 26
1976: Bob Marley and The Wailers played a concert at The Roxy in Los Angeles, where in the audience were former Beatles George Harrison and Ringo Starr, Stevie Wonder and Bob Dylan among others.

May 27
1967: Ciaran Tourish, Celtic fiddler, born.

May 28
1938: Prince Buster (Cecil Bustamente Campbell), ska singer, born in Kingston, Jamaica.

May 29
1889: Marcelo Tupinamba (Fernando Lobo), Latin composer, born in Brazil. 2001: Francis Bebey, Cameroon musician, died of a heart attack at the age of 72.

May 30
1993: World fusion composer and bandleader Sun Ra dies in Birmingham, AL after months of hospitalization following a stroke.

May 31
1919: E.T. Mensah (Emmanuel Tetteh Mensah), highlife musician, born in Ussher Town, Accra. 1947: Krishna Das (Jeffrey Kagel), ethnic fusion singer, founder of Triloka Records, born in Long Island, NY. 1948: Paulinho Da Costa, Latin percussionist, born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.