28
Featured Events
2010Jake Holmes finally gets around to suing Led Zeppelin for plagiarizing his 1967 song "Dazed And Confused." Led Zeppelin released a very similar song with the same title on their 1969 debut album, but Holmes waited decades to take legal action. The case is eventually settled, with the writing credit on the song changed to "Jimmy Page, Inspired By Jake Holmes."
1980Paul McCartney's "Coming Up" hits #1 in the US.
1978The C.W. McCall hit "Convoy" is adapted into a movie of the same name, which opens in theaters. Kris Kristofferson plays the main character, a trucker who goes by "Rubber Duck."
1975David Bowie releases "Fame," featuring John Lennon on backing vocals. It become Bowie's first #1 hit in the US.
1968Aretha Franklin appears on the cover of Time magazine under the banner, "The Sound Of Soul."
28
In Music History
2017Gary DeCarlo, singer of the 1969 hit "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," dies of cancer at age 75.
2016Elvis Presley's original guitarist, Scotty Moore, dies at age 84. Moore, who played on rock classics like "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Jailhouse Rock," was the last living member of the team (Elvis, bass player Bill Black and producer Sam Phillips) that created The King's legendary sound.
2015Brantley Gilbert, who was once engaged to Jana Kramer, marries Amber Cochran, a teacher from his hometown of Jefferson, Georgia.
2012The Flaming Lips break the Guinness World Record for the most live shows performed in multiple cities within 24 hours. The feat is part of MTV's O Music Awards which honors achievements in the digital music realm.More
2011Bluegrass duo Gillian Welch and David Rawlings release The Harrow & The Harvest, their first album in eight years.More
2010Bill Aucoin (band manager for Kiss, Billy Idol) dies of surgical complications from prostate cancer at age 66.
2008During her performance at Glastonbury Festival, Amy Winehouse punches a fan she mistakenly believes had thrown a hat at her beehive.More
2007Rod Stewart receives ten stitches in his leg after slipping onstage in Manchester, England.
1997George Harrison has an operation to remove a cancerous growth from his neck.
1997Lela Howard (83) and her husband Raymond (88) drive to a festival 10 miles away in Temple, Texas, but don't return. Fastball frontman Tony Scalzo writes the song "The Way" after reading about it. Days after completing the song, the couple is found dead about 200 miles from the festival.
1993After repeated threats to kill himself on stage, shock rocker GG Allin dies at age 36 of a heroin overdose following a concert that is cut short due to mayhem.
1973The Helen Reddy Show summer replacement TV series debuts on NBC.
1968In the UK, Pink Floyd release their second album, A Saucerful Of Secrets. It's the first with a cover designed by Hipgnosis, the team of Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell.
1968Jefferson Airplane make the cover of Life magazine under the headline: "Jefferson Airplane, Top Rock Group, With Music That's Hooked the Whole Vibrating World."
1965Dick Clark's Where The Action Is premieres on ABC.
Clay And Ruben Rule The Chart
2003After Ruben Studdard beats Clay Aiken to win Season 2 of American Idol, their first singles debut at the top of the Hot 100. Aiken takes the top spot, becoming the first new artist to go straight to #1 on the chart.
Aiken's first single is "This Is The Night," a new song that sounds like something Josh Groban could do better (when he performed it on Idol, judge Randy Jackson said, "I hated that song and I hope they don't make it your first single"). Studdard's is "Flying Without Wings," a cover of a hit by the Irish group Westlife. When the chart is released, Aiken is #1 and Studdard is the runner-up. Both songs are powered by their flip sides: "Bridge Over Troubled Water" for Aiken and "Superstar" for Studdard. In a bit of marketing alchemy, they are promoted as "double A-side" singles, but Billboard considers "This Is The Night" and "Flying Without Wings" the chart entries. This means American Idol can claim an original song chart-topper in each of their first two seasons, since Kelly Clarkson's "A Moment Like This" landed at #1 in 2002 (in its second week). But fans actually liked Clarkson's song, which didn't benefit from a famous flip side (a new song called "Before Your Love" was used). "This Is The Night" sells a meager 36,000 digital downloads, but the physical single with "Bridge Over Troubled Water" included moves over a million and becomes the top seller of 2003 in America. Season 2 is an Idol anomaly in that Studdard and Aiken do not have to sing the same song and are each hyped with distinct debut singles. The following season, Fantasia and Diana DeGarmo both do "I Believe," and when Fantasia wins, the song is released as her first single and hits #1 its first week of release, making her the second artist (after Aiken) to do so. Season 4 is a battle between Carrie Underwood and Bo Bice, and both release the coronation song "Inside Your Heaven," with the winner Underwood following tradition and debuting at #1. Even Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks pulls off the feat, entering at #1 with "Do I Make You Proud?," which drops off the chart after just eight weeks, setting a new record for fastest exit. All of these songs are bolstered by popular covers included with the singles: "Chain Of Fools" and "Summertime" for Fantasia; "Independence Day" for Underwood; "Takin' It To The Streets" for Hicks. "This is My Now" by Season 6 winner Jordin Sparks is the first Idol song released as a digital download only. With no other song included with the package, it only reaches #15, ending the streak.
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