What Happened Today In Music

September 28th

1965 - The Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones played the first of two nights at the Capitol Theatre, Cardiff, Wales. During the 1960s The Capitol Theatre saw all the major acts of the era performing here including The Beatles and The Kinks.

1968 - Dewey Phillips

American radio DJ Dewey Phillips died of heart failure aged 42. He was one of rock 'n' roll's pioneering disk jockeys. In July 1954, he was the first DJ to play the young Elvis Presley's debut record, 'That's All Right/Blue Moon Of Kentucky.'

1968 - Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen and a local folk rock group The Founders appeared at the Off Broad Street Coffee House in Red Bank, New Jersey.

1968 - Paul McCartney

The Beatles started a nine week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Hey Jude’. The Paul McCartney song written about John Lennon's son Julian gave the group their 16th US No.1 and the biggest selling single of 1968. In 1996, Julian paid £25,000 for the recording notes to the song at an auction.

1972 - Temptations

Motown Records released The Temptations version of ‘Papa Was a Rollin' Stone’. Written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1971, The Temptations version was a No.1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and won three Grammy Awards in 1973. The song had originally been recorded by Motown recording act The Undisputed Truth.

1974 - Bad Company

Bad Company went to No.1 on the US album chart with their self-titled debut album. Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke had come out of Free while Mick Ralphs had played guitar with Mott The Hoopleand Boz Burrell was bass player for King Crimson before the group formed in 1973. They produced six albums together before disbanding in 1983.

1974 - Andy Kim

Canadian singer Andy Kim went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Rock Me Gently', it made No.2 in the UK. Kim was the co-writer of The Archies Sugar Sugar. 

1976 - Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder released his eighteenth studio album Songs in the Key of Life, an ambitious double LP with a four-song bonus EP. It debuted at No.1 on the Billboard Chart on October 8, 1976, becoming only the third album in history to achieve that feat and the first by an American artist.

1976 - George Harrison

A&M Records sued George Harrison for $6 million over non-delivery of a new album after he missed the deadline by two months.

1980 - The Police

The Police were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Don't Stand So Close To Me' the group's third No.1. Taken from their album 'Zenyatta Mondatta' and the best selling single of 1980.

1985 - Kate Bush

Kate Bush scored her second UK No.1 album with 'Hounds Of Love'. The singers second No.1 album featured the tracks 'Running Up That Hill', 'Cloudbusting', 'Hounds of Love' and 'The Big Sky'.

1991 - Miles Davis

American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer Miles Davis died of a stroke and pneumonia. His 1959 album 'Kind of Blue', is a major influence on jazz music. Davis is considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.

1991 - Bryan Adams

Bryan Adams was awarded the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia. Other Canadian musicians who have been given the award include Bryan Adams, Leonard Cohen and the members of Rush.

1991 - Garth Brooks

Garth Brooks went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Ropin' The Wind'. The album spent a total of eighteen weeks at the No.1 position and 70 weeks on the chart selling over 11m copies.

1991 - Guns N' Roses

Guns N' Roses released two albums 'Use Your Illusion I' and 'Use Your Illusion II' which debut at number 1 and number 2 on the UK album chart. Both albums make No.1 & No.2 in the US.

1991 - Nirvana

On the week of their album Nevermind being released, Nirvanamade an appearance at the Tower Records store in New York City and then played a show at The Marquee Club in New York. Their single 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' had also entered the US Top 20 this week.

1995 - Allen Johnson

American singer Allen Johnson died of cancer age 55. He was a member of The Marcels who scored the 1961 US and UK No.1 with a doo-wop cover of the ballad 'Blue Moon' that began with the bass singer singing, "bomp-baba-bomp-ba-bomp-ba-bomp-bomp... vedanga-dang-dang-vadinga-dong-ding...". The record sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. 

2002 - Madonna

Madonna was voted the greatest female singer of all-time by 75,0000 music fans in a VH1 poll. But critics and music fans were unhappy with the position of Kylie Minogue who was voted into second place beating Diana Ross, (12th) and Annie Lennox, (14th). The highest placed UK act was Kate Bush who was voted No. 10.

2002 - Tina Turner

Tina Turner's hometown, made famous in her song ‘Nutbush City Limits,’ named a stretch of State Highway 19 the ‘Tina Turner Highway.’ Turner lived in Nutbush, a small town about 50 miles northeast of Memphis, until she was 17.

2004 - Phil Spector

Producer Phil Spector was charged with the murder of actress Lana Clarkson in an unsealed indictment. Spector was in attendance at a Los Angeles court as the indictment about the slaying of 40-year-old Clarkson was read. He remained free on $1 million bail.

2007 - Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson's spokeswoman, Raymone Bain, denied that the Pop star had married his children's nanny, Grace Rwaramba. A statement issued to the press read: "Wide-spreading reports regarding Michael Jackson being married are not true. Documents stating otherwise are a hoax." Jackson had already been married twice and had three children, Prince Michael I, Paris and Prince Michael II.

2007 - John Lennon

The John Lennon Northern Lights Festival was held in Durness, Scotland, the most northwesterly and remote village on mainland Britain. Lennon spent his childhood holidays between the ages of nine and 13 in the village and returned with his son Julian, Yoko Ono and her daughter Kyoko in 1969.

2007 - P Diddy

An ad for P Diddy's Unforgivable Woman perfume range, featuring a lingerie-clad model cavorting with the rapper in a New York hotel stairwell, was shown on Channel 4 in the UK. The ad had been banned in the US by the Federal Communications Commission, for being too sexually explicit for US audiences.

2009 - John Lennon

Lucy Vodden, the childhood pal of John Lennon's son Julian, passed away at the age of 46 after losing her battle with auto-immune disease lupus. She was the inspiration for The Beatlestrack 'Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds', written mostly by John after Julian showed his father a nursery school drawing he called Lucy - in the sky with diamonds, depicting his classmate.

2009 - DJ AM

Adam Goldstein (DJ AM.), American club DJ and musician died of an accidental drug overdose at home in New York City aged 36. Had worked with Blink 182, Crazy Town and Madonna Goldstein had survived a plane crash along with Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker in September 2008.

2010 - The Beatles

Souvenir hunters were being condemned for "wanton vandalism" after sections of masonry were hacked off the house of Ringo Starr's birthplace. Fans who were campaigning to halt town hall plans to demolish 9 Madryn Street, found that chunks of brickwork had been removed from the house.

2015 - Frankie Ford

American rock and roll and rhythm and blues singer Frankie Ford, whose 1959 hit 'Sea Cruise' reached No.14 on the Billboard Hot 100, died of natural causes at the age of 76.

2019 - Metallica

Metallica cancelled their forthcoming tour to allow frontman James Hetfield to enter rehab. In a statement band members Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo said: “As most of you probably know, our brother James has been struggling with addiction on and off for many years. He has now, unfortunately, had to re-enter a treatment program to work on his recovery again”. In a separate statement, Metallica pledged to refund all tickets sold for their WorldWired tour, which was scheduled to begin 17 October in Perth, Australia. 

Born Today In Music

September 28th

1902 - Ed Sullivan

Ed Sullivan, TV host, The Ed Sullivan Singers and Orchestra. Introduced The Beatles and other UK acts to America via his Ed Sullivan TV show. The Beatles appearance on February 9th 1964 is considered a milestone in American pop culture; the broadcast drew an estimated 73 million viewers. Sullivan died on 13th October 1974.

1938 - Ben E King

Ben E King, (Benjmin Earl Nelson), soul and R&B singer with The Drifters who had the 1960 US No.1 & UK No.2 single 'Save The Last Dance For Me', and the 1987 UK No.1 solo single 'Stand By Me', (first released in 1961). King died at the Hackensack University Medical Center on April 30, 2015, at the age of 76.

1943 - Nick Nicholas

Nick Nicholas, from Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf who had the 1969 US No.2 hit single 'Born To Be Wild' which is sometimes described as the first heavy metal song.

1946 - Helen Shapiro

Helen Shapiro, UK Singer, (1961 UK No.1 single 'Walking Back To Happiness').

1947 - Peter Hope Evans

Peter Hope Evans, Medicine Head, (1973 UK No.3 single 'One And One Is One').

1950 - Paul Burgess

Paul Burgess, drums, 10cc, (1975 UK No.1 & US No.2 single 'I'm Not In Love', plus 10 other UK Top 30 hits including two No.1's). 

1952 - Andy Ward

Andy Ward from British rock band Marillion who had the 1985 UK No.2 single 'Kayleigh'. The band achieved eight Top Ten UK albums between 1983 and 1994, including a No.1 album in 1985 with Misplaced Childhood.

1953 - Jim Diamond

Jim Diamond, singer, songwriter, (solo UK No.1 single 'I Should Have Know Better'), PHD, (1982 UK No.3 single 'I Won't Let You Down'). He died on 8 October 2015.

1960 - Jennifer Rush

Jennifer Rush, singer, (1985 UK No.1 single 'The Power Of Love').

1962 - Peter Hooton

Peter Hooton, vocalist of Liverpool-based group The Farm who had the 1990 UK No.4 single 'All Together Now'.

1966 - Kenny Wilson

Kenny Wilson, (Ginger Fish), drummer with American rock band Marilyn Manson who had the 1998 US No.1 album, Mechanical Animals.

1977 - Young Jeezy

US rapper, Young Jeezy, (Jay Jenkins) who had the 2006 US No.1 album ‘The Inspiration’. Jeezy is credited, along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Gucci Mane, for helping to pioneer and popularize trap music with a mainstream audience. 

1984 - Melody Thornton

Melody Thornton, singer, The Pussycat Dolls, (2005, US No.2 & UK No.1 with their debut single ‘Don't Cha’ featuring Busta Rhymes). The Pussycat Dolls became only the fourth ever girl band to enter the UK charts at No.1 with their debut single. (The other’s being the Spice Girls, B*Witched and Girls Aloud).

1987 - Hilary Duff

US singer, actress, Hilary Duff, star of Lizzie McGuire TV show. She had the 2003 US No.1 album ‘Metamorphosis’ and 2005 US No.1 album 'Most Wanted'.