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Featured Events
1997The "Hank Williams Memorial Lost Highway" is dedicated in Alabama, where the singer was born. The 50-mile stretch on Interstate 65 starts at his childhood home of Georgiana and ends in Montgomery, the site of his grave. The ceremony takes place in Montgomery (the state capitol), with Hank Williams Jr. on hand to speak.
1995After a lengthy press-fueled feud culminates in simultaneous singles releases, Blur's "Country House" beats Oasis' track "Roll With It" to the #1 spot in the UK. Oasis go on to enjoy worldwide mainstream success, while Blur later veer from the Britpop sound, developing an artier, more experimental style – heavily inspired by Pavement.
1992Embroiled in controversy over his song "Cop Killer," Ice-T doubles down by appearing in a police uniform on the cover of Rolling Stone.More
1988At the Monsters Of Rock festival at Castle Donington, England, two fans are killed during a set by Guns N' Roses, whose frontman Axl Rose had implored the crowd, "Don't f--kin' kill each other." With the ground wet and a record crowd of 107,000 at the festival, the surge of bodies during the set causes the two fans to be trampled or crushed to death.More
1983Taco's cover of the Irving Berlin song "Puttin' On the Ritz" reaches #9 on the Hot 100, making the 95-year-old Berlin the oldest living songwriter ever to land a Top 10 on that tally.
1977The Emotions hit #1 in the US with the disco track "Best Of My Love" for the first of five weeks. Two years earlier, the Eagles hit #1 with a song with the same title.
1977The Voyager 2 space probe is launched, carrying with it a "Golden Record" of sounds and images representing Earth. More
1948Robert Plant is born in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. Best known at Led Zeppelin's lead singer, he wins the Album of the Year Grammy for Raising Sand, his 2007 collaboration with Alison Krauss.
1942Soul superstar Isaac Hayes is born in Covington, Tennessee.
20
In Music History
2018The RIAA certifies the Eagles Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 at 38 million units, making it the best-selling album of all-time in America, besting Michael Jackson's Thriller by 5 million (another Eagles album, Hotel California, is third with 26 million). Worldwide, Thriller is by far the biggest selling album.
2016Former 3 Doors Down guitarist Matt Roberts is found dead in a Wisconsin hotel room at age 38, presumably from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.
2016Tom Searle of the band Architects dies of skin cancer at age 28.
2012Edgy alt band Green Day continues its hip appeal by partnering with the smash hit video game "Angry Birds." A special 10-level edition of the game, featuring Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool as green pigs, is launched by video game maker Rovio and players can even unlock a new Green Day song from the tenth level of the game.
2011Jazz singer Ross Barbour (of The Four Freshmen) dies of cancer in Simi Valley, California, at age 82.
2009Keyboardist/bassist Larry Knechtel (of Bread) dies of a heart attack in Yakima, Washington, at age 69.
2005On what would have been Phil Lynott's 56th birthday, a concert is held in Dublin featuring Thin Lizzy members Brian Downey, Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson. Eric Bell, the original lead guitarist with Thin Lizzy, and Gary Moore share the lead on the classic "Whiskey In The Jar."
1992Demi Lovato is born in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
1992Sting marries Trudie Styler at their estate in Wiltshire, England. The couple first met in 1977 when Sting was a struggling musician and Trudie was trying to make it as an actress.
1990Prince releases his album Graffiti Bridge, which contains the tracks "Thieves In The Temple" and "New Power Generation."More
1988Soundgarden play Capitol Lake Park in Olympia, Washington as part of Capitol Lake Jam. Also on the bill: Nirvana.
1987Lindsey Buckingham, who helped turn Fleetwood Mac into one of the biggest-selling groups of the '70s, leaves the group after refusing to tour behind its latest album, Tango In The Night.
1987Metallica play a secret show at The 100 Club in London. Two days later, they play Donington Park at Castle Donington as part of the massive Monsters of Rock Festival, headlined by Bon Jovi.
1981Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott appears at Kingston Crown Court where he is fined £200 for possessing cocaine.
Soul Superstars Play To 100,000 At Wattstax, The "Black Woodstock"
1972
Stax Records commemorates the seventh anniversary of the 1965 Watts riots with a star-studded benefit concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. More than 100,000 fans show up to hear Isaac Hayes, The Bar-Kays, The Staple Singers, and Kim Weston, among others, perform at what becomes known as Black Woodstock.
Stax president Al Bell held his breath on the morning of the day-long festival, wondering if enough people would show up to fill the stadium, home to the Los Angeles Rams. What started out as a small idea to commemorate the historic uprising - which had the black community of Watts battling in a four-day rebellion against police brutality and racial discrimination - turned into a major event. He had his biggest stars waiting in the wings and a film crew ready to document the concert for moviegoers. To generate interest, he set the ticket prices at $1 per person so anyone could afford to come.
"The seconds, minutes, and hours passed, and finally I looked up and saw not a vacant spot in that place," he explained. "Nobody had ever done anything like that - the audacity to think that you can fill this stadium with black people. The closest thing was Dr. King's March On Washington."
From the get-go, it's apparent the crowd isn't there just to hear black performers, but to hear black music. When Kim Weston emerges to sing "The Star Spangled Banner," the audience is indifferent - lounging on the field, chatting and eating. After the Reverend Jesse Jackson gives a stirring reading of the poem "I Am Somebody," Weston returns to perform "Lift Every Voice And Sing," often regarded as the black national anthem. From the first notes, the audience leaps to their feet and thrusts their fists in the air.
Wattstax has truly begun.
The Staple Singers take the stage for a lengthy set, including "Respect Yourself" and "I'll Take You There." The Bar-Kays emerge in over-the-top costumes for a frenzied performance of "Son Of Shaft." Blues guitarist Albert King entertains with "I'll Play The Blues For You." Rufus Thomas whips up the crowd with "Breakdown" and "Do The Funky Chicken." When they begin to rush the stage, the quick-thinking R&B veteran improvises some comical raps to persuade them to get back to their seats. "Don't jump the fence, because it don't make no sense," he quips.
Isaac Hayes, also celebrating his 30th birthday, closes out the show with a trio of tunes - including the "Theme From Shaft," the Oscar-winning song he wrote for the 1971 film.
All the while, cameras are rolling. In the tradition of groundbreaking festivals like Woodstock and Monterey Pop, it spawns a companion film (and album). But Wattstax isn't a straight-forward account of the concert. Directed by Mel Stuart (Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory), the movie splices in footage from performers who couldn't make the event - like The Emotions ("Peace Be Still"), Johnnie Taylor ("Jody's Got Your Girl And Gone"), and Little Milton ("Walking The Streets and Crying"). It also features street interviews with the working class people of Watts about inner-city life. The film debuts a year later but gets little attention until it's re-released in the summer of 2003.
Looking back on the documentary, Al Bell said: "We needed to demonstrate that our music is an embodiment of the black experience and what goes on in the lives of our people."
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