- Link Wray who pioneered overdrive and distortion guitar sound and invented the power chord was born in Dunn, North Carolina on May 2, 1929.
- Adam Yauch or most well known as MCA of Beastie Boys passed away on May 4 after battling the cancer since 2009. He was 47. (LA Times)
- National Astronomy Day is on May 7. (Astronomy.com)
- Against Me! singer Tom Gabel comes out as a transgender. (Rolling Stone)
- Robert Johnson was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi on May 8, 1911. Eric Clapton has called Johnson "the most important blues singer that ever lived". Johnson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (Youtube)
- French comics artist Jean Giraud aka Mœbius was born on May 8, 1938. He passed away on March 10 this year.
- Bob Dylan shot the Subterranean Homesick Blues video in an alley behind the Savoy Hotel in London on May 8, 1964. (Rolling Stone)
- Country soul singer Arthur Alexander was born in Sheffield, Alabama on May 10, 1940. His songs were covered by The Rolling stones, The Beatles and Bob Dylan. (Youtube)
- Scottish singer Donovan was born in Glasgow on May 10, 1946. (Youtube)
- The Animals singer Eric Burdon was born in Walker, England on May 11, 1941.
- Physicist Richard Feynman was born in Far Rockaway, New York on May 11, 1918. Feynman received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the development of quantum electrodynamics in 1965.
- Project Tuva is series of lectures titled The Character of Physical Law by Richard Feynman given at Cornell University in 1964. The project is enhanced with commentary by Dr. Robert Jaffe, a physics professor at MIT and is sponsored by Bill Gates and Microsoft Research. (Project Tuva)
- Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dali was born on May 11, 1904. (Virtualdali)
- Neil Young Journeys weaves between footage of Young's Massey Hall concert and his trip in Ontario. This is Jonathan Demme’s third documentary on Neil Young. The previous films are Neil Young Trunk Show in 2009 and Neil Young: Heart of Gold in 2006. (Youtube)
- Ritchie Valens was born in San Fernando Valley, California on May 13, 1941. He became rock and roll pioneer. He and Buddy Holly died in a plane crash on February 3, 1959 at the age of 17.
- Santana's 36th album Shape Shifter released on May 15.
- King Crimson's guitarist Robert Fripp was born in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England on May 16, 1946. (Youtube)
- Krist Novoselic, bassist of Nirvana, was born in Compton, CA on May 16, 1965.
- Bono will soon become the richest musician in the world. He owns 2.3% of Facebook shares which values more than $1.5 billion when Facebook's IPO finalizes. (NME)
- Donna Summer died of lung cancer in Florida on May 17. She was 63.
- Silversun Pickups released new album titled Neck of the Woods. Listen to their latest single "Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings)" on Youtube. (Soundcloud)
- Ian Curtis, vocalist of Joy Division, hanged himself in his kitchen in Macclesfield, England on May 18, 1980. Black and white biographical film Control was directed by Anton Corbijn and released in 2007.
- Philosopher Bertrand Russell was born in Monmouthshire, England on May 18, 1872.
- Pete Townshend of The Who was born in London on May 19, 1945.
- Joey Ramone was born in Queens, New York on May 19, 1951.
- One third of Bee Gees Robin Gibb died in London on May 20 after a long battle with cancer. He was 62 years old. Bee Gees had nine number one singles, six Grammy Awards and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. (LA Times)
- Oscar-winning songwriter Joseph Brooks commits suicide in New York on May 22, 2011. His song"You Light Up My Life" reached #1 on the Billboard 100 charts on October 1977 and ran for 10 consecutive weeks. It was the longest run at #1 in the chart's history at the time. (ABC News)
- Robert (Bob) Moog, inventor of Moog synthesizer and the pioneer of electronic music, was born in New York on May 23, 1934. He built his first electronic instrument, a theremin at aged 14 and made the MiniMoog, the first compact, easy-to-use synthesizer, in 1970. He died on Aug 21, 2005.
- Joey Ramone's second posthumous solo album "...Ya Know?" is released. (NME)
- The Doors started their run as the house band at the Whisky A Go Go on May 23, 1966.
- Bob Dylan was born in Duluth, Minnesota on May 24, 1941.
- Paul Weller of The Jam was born on May 25, 1958 in Surrey, England.
- John Lennon started 8 days bed-in on May 26, 1969 at Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. He later recorded Give Peace A Chance on June 1.
- Jazz musician Miles Davis was born in Alton, Illinois on May 26, 1926.
- T-Bone Walker was born in Linden, Texas on May 28, 1910. He is the first musician recorded playing blues with the electric guitar.
- Jeff Buckley was drown from a swimming accident on May 29, 1997 in Mississippi River.
- Tom Morello was born in Harlem, New York on May 30, 1964.
- John Bonham, drummer of Led Zeppelin, was born in Worcestershire, England on May 31, 1948.
