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Featured Events
2017Thanks to the song by Eminem, the word "stan" is added to the Oxford American Dictionary, defined as "an overzealous or obsessive fan of a particular celebrity."
199310,000 Maniacs become the first act to appear twice on MTV Unplugged. The network has a policy against return engagements, but when they learn that Natalie Merchant will be leaving the band, they book them.More
1985Sting releases his first solo album, The Dream of the Blue Turtles. Tracks include "Moon Over Bourbon Street" (inspired by the novel Interview With The Vampire) and "Russians," a song that looks at the Cold War from the perspective of the USSR.
1981Brandi Carlile is born in Ravensdale, Washington.
1976The Runaways release their eponymous debut album. Billed as the first all-female hard-rock band, the disc has little domestic success, peaking at #194. However, the band are hugely successful in Japan, hitting the #1 spot with their single "Cherry Bomb."
1974The UK music magazine NME publishes its list of the 100 Greatest Albums. The Top 3:
#3: The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds
#2: Bob Dylan's Blonde On Blonde
#1: The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper
1972Aretha Franklin's live album Amazing Grace, a collection of spirituals recorded at a church in January, is released. Anchored by Franklin's stunning rendition of "Amazing Grace," it becomes her best-selling album.
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In Music History
2013American Idol alums Diana DeGarmo and Ace Young get married at Los Angeles' Luxe Sunset Boulevard hotel. DeGarmo was a runner-up to Fantasia Barrino in Season 3, while Young was a finalist in Season 5.
2008A fire at Universal Studios Hollywood destroys thousands of master tapes controlled by Universal Music Group, including recordings by Joni Mitchell, Elton John, B.B. King, Neil Diamond, Nirvana and Eminem. The extent of the loss is not revealed until years later.
2007Tony Thompson (lead singer of Hi-Five) dies at age 31 after accidentally inhaling a toxic amount of freon.
2007Contemporary musicians record their own versions of songs from The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's album to mark 40 years since it was released. Acts including Oasis, Travis, The Fray, Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight, Bryan Adams and The Magic Numbers all work with Geoff Emerick - the engineer in charge of the original 1967 sessions - using the original analogue 4-track equipment to demonstrate the techniques employed for the recording at Abbey Road studios in 1967.
2006Spanish singer and actress Rocio Jurado dies of pancreatic cancer at age 59.
2006The UK Albums chart turns 50 years old, and in a survey by the book of British Hit Singles and Albums and NME, Definitely Maybe by Oasis is voted the greatest album of all time. The Beatles come in second and third place with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Revolver; OK Computer by Radiohead is fourth and (What's the Story) Morning Glory? by Oasis comes in fifth.
2005White Stripes singer Jack White marries his girlfriend, British model Karen Elson, in a canoe on the Amazon in Brazil.
2005Crazy Frog's "Axel F" hits #1 on the UK singles chart.
2003Slipknot bass player Paul Gray is arrested after colliding with another car in his hometown of Des Moines, Iowa. Gray, who dies from an overdose on May 24, 2010, is charged with possession of marijuana, cocaine and drug paraphernalia, as well drunk-driving.
2003Staind's 14 Shades Of Gray hits #1 on the US albums chart. It's the meat in the sandwich of three chart-topping albums for the group, following Break The Cycle (2001) and preceding Chapter V (2005).
2002Eminem, still without an American chart-topper, lands his third UK #1 hit with "Without Me," where he takes shots at a number of soft targets including Chris Kirkpatrick, Limp Bizkit and Moby.
2001Rapper Jamal "Shyne" Barrow is sentenced in a Manhattan court to 10 years in prison for his part in a 1999 nightclub shooting.
2000Dixie Chicks play the first night of their 85-date "Fly" North American tour at Winnipeg Arena in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
2000The film Honest, starring three of the All Saints, is pulled by cinemas after a disastrous showing at the box office.
2000Mambo musician Tito Puente, who helped popularize Afro-Cuban and Caribbean music in the '50s, dies at age 77 following heart valve surgery.
John And Yoko Start A Revolution From Their Bed
1969
John Lennon and Yoko Ono record "Give Peace A Chance" to close out their "bed-in" in Montreal.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono spent their entire honeymoon in bed in an Amsterdam hotel room, inviting in members of the press for 12 hours each day while they talked about peace, love and understanding. There they remained for seven days, beneath signs marked "Hair Peace" and "Bed Peace." That series of events was documented in the hastily recorded Beatles song "The Ballad of John and Yoko," which featured just Lennon and Paul McCartney playing every instrument. That stunt is such a publicity success - despite the press failing to take their message seriously - that the pair decide to reprise it.
This second protest is planned for New York, but Lennon is refused entry to the country on account of his 1968 conviction for possession of marijuana. After staying for just one night in their second choice venue - the Sheraton Hotel in the Bahamas - John and Yoko decide the weather is too hot to remain in bed for a week, so they fly to Canada and block-book rooms 1738 thru 1744 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal for seven days.
While the bed-in is in progress, a host of celebrities and media representatives visit the hotel room and John Lennon repeats the phrase "give peace a chance," in various interviews, sparking the idea for a song.
"Give Peace A Chance" is recorded live by producer André Perry, using four microphones and a portable 4-track cassette recorder he has borrowed from a local studio. The song features a chorus of contributors including Petula Clark, Allen Ginsberg and Timothy Leary.
Released as a Lennon solo single under the name The Plastic Ono Band, the song is nevertheless attributed to the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership - to Lennon's later regret. The writing credit could serve as thanks for McCartney's help recording "The Ballad of John and Yoko" on such short notice.
The single reaches #14 in the US, and over the next decade becomes an anthem for the anti-Vietnam War movement. (photo: Roy Kerwood)
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