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Featured Events
2013Country singer George Jones dies at age 81 from hypoxic respiratory failure, just a couple weeks after his final concert in Knoxville, Tennessee.
2003The Morgan Creek Bridge in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is renamed the James Taylor Bridge in honor of the singer, who mentioned it in his song "Copperline."
1978The Last Waltz, director Martin Scorsese's acclaimed documentary of The Band's star-studded last concert, opens in theaters. The film features performances by Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Joni Mtchell, Van Morrison, Neil Diamond, The Staple Singers and Dr. John.More
1977Jim Steinman's play Neverland opens at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Five months later, three of the songs he wrote for the production appear on Meat Loaf's seminal album Bat Out Of Hell, which would become one of the 10 best-selling albums of all time.
1977The most famous club of the disco era, Studio 54, opens for business at 254 West 54th Street in New York City. Over the next three years, celebrity guests include Cher, Elton John, Michael Jackson, Brooke Shields, and Liza Minnelli. Donald Trump and his wife, Ivana, attend on opening night.
1969Walter Carlos's album Switched-On Bach, notable for being the first successful album to remix classical music compositions on the newly-invented Moog synthesizer, reaches #10 on the Billboard Albums chart. The popularity of the album is the commercial breakthrough for Moog synthesizers, which go on to be part of the soundtrack in the films Tron, The Shining, and A Clockwork Orange. This in part brings synthesized music to mainstream popularity, paving the way for disco (especially the 'hi-NRG' style) in the '70s.
1969"Oh Happy Day" by The Edwin Hawkins Singers enters the Hot 100 at #72, becoming the first pure gospel song to make that chart. More26
In Music History
2017Father John Misty releases his video for "Total Entertainment Forever," which stars Macaulay Culkin as a crucified Kurt Cobain.More
2013X marks the spot for the Ohio-born Twenty One Pilots, who pledge their devotion to their hometown fans by getting "X" tattoos midway through a performance at the Lifestyles Community Pavilion in Columbus. Frontman Tyler Joseph tells the crowd: "This X is dedicated to you guys. Columbus, Ohio is where we're from and it will always be where we are from. Whenever someone asks what that X means, I am going to say this is for all of you."
2011Folk singer-songwriter Phoebe Snow dies at age 60 after being in a coma for three months due to a cerebral hemorrhage.
2005Amerie releases "Touch."
1999English post-punk rocker Adrian Borland (The Sound, The Outsiders) commits suicide at age 41 by throwing himself under a train at London's Wimbledon Station.
1991A tribute concert for Tim Buckley, who died in 1975 at 28, is held at St. Ann's Church in Brooklyn. It's the first time his son, Jeff Buckley, performs his father's music.
1984Count Basie, famed jazz pianist and orchestra leader, dies of pancreatic cancer at age 79.
1982Rod Stewart is mugged on Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard.
1976Jose Pasillas (drummer for Incubus) is born in Calabasas, California.
1975Heavy metal drummer Nathan "Joey" Jordison (Slipknot) is born in Des Moines, Iowa.
Van Halen Succeeds With Sammy
1986
Van Halen proves there is life after David Lee Roth as their album 5150, the first with Sammy Hagar, hits #1 in the US for the first of three weeks.
Van Halen is named after their guitarist and drummer (Eddie and Alex), but it's not a Santana situation where the lead singer is interchangeable. David Lee Roth is as outlandish and charismatic as a frontman could be, but that huge personality makes it impossible for him to get along with his bandmates, and in April 1985, he leaves the group (Eddie claims he is suffering from LSD: Lead Singer Disease).
His replacement is Sammy Hager, a qualified rocker who did time in the band Montrose before launching a solo career. He lacks the quirky humor of his predecessor, but brings along guitar chops and an impressive vocal range. He's also a lyricist, which is one of the job requirements.
Van Halen's last Roth album, 1984, is their most polished, with radio-friendly cuts like "Jump" and "Panama" making it their most successful to date. For 5150 (the title refers to California police code for a mentally disturbed person; it's also the name of Eddie Van Halen's home studio where it is recorded), they come up with crowd-pleasers like "Why Can't This Be Love?" and "Dreams." Mick Jones of Foreigner is brought in to produce; he spends most of his time working with Hagar, since the rest of the band doesn't need much direction. The final product is familiar but different, and it works. The album climbs to #1 in the US, giving the group their first chart-topper. The Van Hagar era begins, along with a vigorous debate among fans: Sammy or Dave?
That such a debate even exists is shocking, since no band on this level has ever replaced a beloved frontman and reached even greater heights. It would be like Journey replacing Steve Perry and cranking out a #1 album... unthinkable.
The group's next three albums - OU812 (1988), For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge (1991) and Balance (1995) - all hit #1 in America. Hagar leaves the group in 1996 and is replaced by Gary Cherone of Extreme. This lead singer swap has more predictable results, as he never fits in and lasts only one album.
As for Roth, he stays in MTV's good graces and thanks to "Just A Gigolo / I Ain't Got Nobody" and his cover of "California Girls" - both wildly popular on the network - he launches a successful solo career. His guitarist is Steve Vai, who like Hagar is a widely respected musician with a proven track record.
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