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Featured Events
2007The Rolling Stones wrap up their A Bigger Bang tour at the O2 Arena in London. The tour lasted two years and sets a new record with a gross of $558 million.
2006Taylor Hicks' "Do I Make You Proud?" drops out of the Hot 100 after just eight weeks, establishing a new record for the shortest stay on the chart for a #1 hit. A little perspective: "London Bridge" by Fergie is the 2006 #1 with the next-fewest weeks on the chart, with 21.
1995Seal's "Kiss From A Rose" hits #1 in the US after being used in the movie Batman Forever. "I owe my career to Joel Schumacher," Seal says, referring to the film's director.
1978Frankie Valli's "Grease," the title track to the blockbuster film, hits #1 in America.
1976Steven Tyler of Aerosmith appears on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Annie Leibovitz took the photo, which shows the frontman haggard and bleary after just two hours sleep. Leibovitz got the shot by showing up at his hotel at 6 a.m.
1967Bobbie Gentry's "Ode To Billy Joe" hits #1 in America for the first of four weeks.
26
In Music History
2019Ed Sheeran wraps up his ÷ (Divide) tour with a show at Chantry Park in Ipswich, England, near his hometown of Framlingham. The tour started on March 16, 2017 and set the record for highest-grossing tour, earning $775.6 million over 255 shows. After two-and-a-half years on the road, he's ready for a rest. "This is my last gig for probably 18 months," he tells the crowd.
2016Ann Wilson's husband is arrested for assault after getting physical with Nancy Wilson's 16-year-old twin sons, causing a rift between the Heart sisters, who finish their tour using separate dressing rooms and avoiding contact.
2009Hit songwriter Ellie Greenwich dies from a heart attack at age 68 after a bout of pneumonia.
2005A post office in Los Angeles is officially renamed after singer Ray Charles due to its close proximity to the studio where he recorded later in life.
2004"Gloria" singer Laura Branigan dies from a cerebral aneurysm in East Quogue, New York, at age 52.
2002Herman's Hermits original lead singer Peter Noone files an unsuccessful lawsuit against the group's drummer Barry Whitwam, attempting to block him from touring with new musicians under the group name.
2000Allen Woody (bass guitarist for The Allman Brothers Band and Gov't Mule) dies in Queens, New York, from an indeterminate cause at age 44.
2000De La Soul's Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump, their first album in four years, debuts at #9 on the Billboard 200 chart and #3 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
1996Delegates at the Democratic National Convention take a break to do the "Macarena," including First Lady Hillary Clinton, who's rocking the dance's hand motions from the crowd.
1995Ronnie White (of The Miracles) dies after a battle with leukemia at age 56 in Detroit, Michigan. White had also lost his first-born daughter to the disease when she was 9 years old.
1994Scottish singer/songwriter Frankie Miller suffers a brain hemorrhage while in New York, lapsing into a five-month coma that eventually forces him into physical therapy to regain his motor skills.
1993Apple Records wins the bidding for a rare recording of the Beatles playing "Kansas City" and "Some Other Guy" at the Cavern Club in Liverpool in 1962, paying £16,000 for the acetate disc.
1983The film Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, starring David Bowie, opens in New York City.
1981Folk singer Lee Hays (bass vocalist for The Weavers) dies from diabetic cardiovascular disease at age 67 in Croton-on-Hudson, Westchester County, New York. Hays penned a farewell poem wishing for his ashes to be mixed with his compost pile. That wish was fulfilled.
1981The mayor of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Marion Dewar, declares today "Paul Anka Day" in honor of its Paul Anka.
Isle Of Wight Is Bigger Than Woodstock
1970The five-day Isle of Wight festival kicks off in England, boasting a very impressive lineup, including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Donovan, Jethro Tull, Miles Davis, Emerson, Lake And Palmer, The Doors, The Who, Spirit, The Moody Blues, Chicago, Procol Harum, Sly and the Family Stone, Free, and in his last concert appearance in England, Jimi Hendrix.
This third consecutive Isle of Wight Festival is one of the biggest musical events of the era, surpassing even Woodstock with an estimated 600,000 people descending on the tiny British island. The numbers are so great that the sound system is unable to make the grade, and The Who step in to assist with their equipment. The entire event is captured on film in what will be the most comprehensively recorded festival to date. The organizers have booked an eclectic range of artists but many are unsuited to such a large show. The folk contingent are well represented but acoustic artists like Donovan, Joan Baez and Leonard Cohen struggle to cut through and connect with the massive crowd. On this, the opening day, Kris Kristofferson falls victim to the poor sound and is booed off-stage by the audience. There are pockets of unrest, with anarchists, Hells Angels and skinheads arriving en masse and demanding free entry. Thousands of people have set up a camp at nearby Afton Down, overlooking the site, with the intention of enjoying the festival for free. Attempts are made by security to encourage them to make a financial contribution under the threat of their camp being floodlit for the remaining four nights, but this is largely ineffective. Still, the event is relatively peaceful. The only arrests made by the woefully outnumbered local police force are a handful for drug offenses. Thanks to the invasion of freeloaders and poor financial management by the organizers, the festival loses money despite the huge numbers in attendance. It isn't until 2002 that the Isle of Wight again hosts a major music festival. Even the officially commissioned film, titled Message to Love: The Isle of Wight, doesn't come off as planned: it isn't released until 1997.
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