The 101 number one song of the day was the product of a group headed by the musically prodigious son of a Memphis doctor who became a serious student of mysticism.

By age 11, Maurice White was playing drums in a band with a classmate name Booker T. Jones who would later head up Booker T. & the MGs.  White later joined the Ramsey Lewis Trio and travelled to the Middle East, found a new spiritual vision and went on to form a unit of vegetarians who regularly meditated together before performing to achieve a “oneness of mind.”  While looking through his astrological chart, White learned he had only earth, air and fire in his Sagittarius sign which provided inspiration for the band’s name that reached the number one spot in America on May 24, 1975.  He had changed the “air” to “wind” and so that is how they became Earth Wind and Fire.  Their number one song on that day in ‘75 and today’s 101 number one song of the day is “Shining Star.”

LBJ

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The 101 number one song of the day, recorded by one Ernest Kador, Jr was certainly enjoyed by a lot of people but decidedly unpopular with one segment of American society. 

The song earned a place in rock history by the spreading the gospel piano of the New Orleans sound as championed by Allen Toussaint the song’s writer and producer.  The singer was having marital problems and he felt that one person was mostly to blame and that’s why he was anxious to record the song that was number one on May 23, 1961 for the now renamed Ernie K. Doe – and the person he felt was the root of his domestic troubles:   Mother in Law

The show featured many guest performances including Wynonna Judd singing “I Want To Know What Love Is” and Psy performing ”Gentleman”. Pitbull also made an appearance and performed ”Manos Pa’ Arriba” and Jessica Sanchez performed “Feel This Moment”.

Alexandra Raisman and her partner Mark Ballas made fourth place, and Jacoby Jones with his partner Karina Smirnoff placed third. The runner up was Zendaya along with her partner Val Chmerkovskiy.

Ontario

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Only two human beings on the planet have ever shared label billing with the Beatles.  The first was Tony Sheridan, and only by virtue of the fact that long before they were popular, the Beatles had backed him up on several tracks. 

The second was an American keyboard player.  It was totally unexpected.  “It was something,” he said, “that I could have never asked for or no manager could negotiate, just something they felt for me.”  Many people have been called the fifth Beatle, but if anyone truly deserves the title, it’s Billy Preston – and that brings us to the number one song on May 22^, 1969 and today’s 101 number one song of the day – the Beatles and Billy Preston “Get Back”

The Doors‘ co-founder and keyboardist Ray Manzarek died on Monday, May 20th in Rosenheim, Germany at the RoMed Clinic following a long battle with with bile duct cancer. He was 74. Manzarek was surrounded by his wife Dorothy and his brothers Rick and James Manczarek. Manzarek is survived by Dorothy, their son Pablo, his wife Sharmin, and their three children Noah, Apollo, and Camille. Funeral arrangements are pending. An official statement posted on TheDoors.com stated: “The family asks that their privacy be respected at this difficult time. In lieu of flowers, please make a memoriam donation in Ray Manzarek’s name at www.standup2cancer.org.”

Doors guitarist Robby Krieger said in a statement: “I was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of my friend and bandmate Ray Manzarek today. I’m just glad to have been able to have played Doors songs with him for the last decade. Ray was a huge part of my life and I will always miss him.”

Doors drummer John Densmore said in a statement: “There was no keyboard player on the planet more appropriate to support Jim Morrison’s words. Ray, I felt totally in sync with you musically. It was like we were of one mind, holding down the foundation for Robby and Jim to float on top of. I will miss my musical brother.”

Ray Manzarek was born Raymond Daniel Manczarek, Jr. on February 12th, 1939 on the South Side of Chicago and was of Polish decent. In 1962 he moved to Southern California to study at the Department of Cinematography at UCLA, where he first met fellow student and future partner Jim Morrison, along with his wife of 45 years, Dorothy Fujikawa. Together with Morrison, Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore, the quartet formed the Doors in 1965 and between 1967 and 1971 released six studio albums — The Doors (1967); Strange Days (1967); Waiting For The Sun (1968); The Soft Parade (1969); Morrison Hotel (1970); and L.A. Woman (1971) — before Jim Morrison’s death on July 3rd, 1971 in Paris.