10
Featured Events
2003The Luther Vandross album Dance With My Father is released two months after the singer suffered a debilitating stroke. The album goes to #1 in America and the title track wins the Grammy Award for Song of the Year, but Vandross dies on July 1, 2005.
2000Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP, featuring "Stan" and "The Real Slim Shady," begins an eight-week run at #1 in the US.
1991In his first public appearance since being released from prison in February, James Brown stars in the pay-per-view concert special James Brown: Living in America. For $19.95, viewers can see Brown perform at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles along with MC Hammer, Bell Biv DeVoe, C+C Music Factory, Kool Moe Dee and En Vogue.
1990Members of the rap group 2 Live Crew are arrested on charges of public obscenity after performing songs from their album As Nasty As They Wanna Be in a Hollywood, Florida, nightclub. A few days earlier, a federal court ruled the album obscene, and therefore performing it is against the law. It gets even more ridiculous when a cover band performs the songs for the purpose of getting arrested, which they do. Eventually, the ruling is overturned and charges against the rappers (and cover band) are dropped.
1976Paul McCartney and Wings set a new indoor concert attendance record of 67,100 at the newly-opened Kingdome in Seattle.
1922Judy Garland is born Frances Ethel Gumm in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
10
In Music History
2017Gorillaz stage their first Demon Dayz Festival, which takes place at Dreamland amusement park in Margate, Kent, England. Performers include Mavis Staples, De La Soul and Carly Simon, all of whom appeared on their album Humanz.
2016Rick Astley releases 50, his first album of original songs in 15 years, in the UK. It goes to #1 its first week.
2011Jack White and British model Karen Elson throw a "divorce party" to celebrate their amicable breakup. White was previously married to his White Stripes bandmate Meg White.
2010Appearing at Milan's PalaSharp Arena to promote his self-titled solo record, Slash, in the midst of performing the Guns N' Roses classic "Sweet Child o' Mine," is tackled by a concertgoer. The guitarist bravely keeps on rocking, eventually switching guitars and finishing the song. Afterward, Slash described the night as "a kick-ass rock show."
2009Barry Beckett, record producer and session musician of the famed Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, dies in Hendersonville, Tennessee, at age 66.
2005Ottawa Governor General Adrienne Clarkson officially makes Paul Anka an Officer of the Order of Canada.
2003Following a four-year hiatus, Fountains of Wayne reunite in order to release Welcome Interstate Managers. The album spawns the hit single "Stacy's Mom."
1992The Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas calls for a boycott of Time Warner, whose label Sire is distributing the song "Cop Killer" by Body Count, which is Ice-T's hardcore group. Six weeks later, the song is pulled from the album, but not before it sells over 500,000 copies, mostly due to the controversy.
1992Model Kelly Emberg has her palimony suit against Rod Stewart thrown out.
1991Temptation David Ruffin's funeral is held in Detroit, with attendees including Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and former bandmate Eddie Kendricks, who is arrested at the service for failure to pay child support.
1989De La Soul's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, peaks at #24 on the Billboard 200 chart. On the same day, "Me, Myself and I" hits #1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
1988Steve Sanders (baritone singer, guitarist for The Oak Ridge Boys) dies of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at age 45.
1986Nitty Gritty Dirt Band celebrates its 20th anniversary with a concert in their hometown of Denver, Colorado.
1982R&B singer Addie "Micki" Harris (of The Shirelles) dies at age 42 after suffering a heart attack during a performance in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Sopranos Ends With Journey Song
2007
In the last scene of the HBO series The Sopranos, "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey plays on the jukebox while Tony Soprano sits at a diner. It cuts to black on the line, "Don't Stop."
The series, which runs for six seasons, is very violent, chronicling the adventures of a mob boss (Tony) and his family. Steve Perry, the lead vocalist and co-writer of the song, feared it would be part of a gruesome scene ending with bloody retribution, and insisted on knowing the top-secret ending before granting permission. He was sworn to secrecy.
The song, released in 1981, has been growing in popularity since 2003 when it was used in the film Monster; at karaoke bars, it is inescapable. The Sopranos scene takes it to a new tier, which in the era of iTunes means the song can be instantly downloaded for 99 cents. In 2008, Apple announces that it is the first pre-digital-era song to be downloaded over 2 million times. In 2009, it is used in a very different TV series: Glee, where it is sung by the cast. This version is released as a single and reaches #4 in the US, five spots higher than the original charted.
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