What Happened Today In Music

1957 - The Everly Brothers

Although it was banned by some US radio stations for its suggestive lyrics, The Everly Brothers had their first No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Wake Up Little Susie', (a No.2 hit in the UK).

1959 - Bobby Darin

Bobby Darin was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Mack The Knife'. From Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera, the song won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1960.

1965 - Spencer Davis

The Rolling Stones, The Spencer Davis Group, Unit 4 Plus 2, The Checkmates, The Habit, The End and Charlie Dickins all appeared at The Odeon, Birmingham during a UK tour.

1966 - Pink Floyd

Pink Floyd played their first ever "underground" set when they appeared at All Saints Hall, Notting Hill, London, UK.

1967 - The Monkees

The second series of The Monkees TV show started on BBC TV in the UK. Plans for the shows to be screened in colour were dropped, so it was aired in black & white.

1968 - Jackson Five

The Jackson Five make their national TV debut on 'ABC TV's Hollywood Palace.

1969 - Frank Sinatra

Police in New Jersey issued a warrant for the arrest of Frank Sinatra in relation to his connections with the Mafia.

1971 - Creedence Clearwater Revival

Music publishing firm, Arco Industries filed a $500,000 dollar lawsuit against Creedence Clearwater Revival singer John Fogerty, claiming that Fogerty's song Travelin' Band "contained substantial material copied from Little Richard's Good Golly, Miss Molly". The suit was eventually dropped.

1972 - Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Ben', his first solo No.1. which was also a a No.7 hit in the UK.

1977 - David Bowie

David Bowie released his twelfth studio album Heroes, the second installment of his Berlin Trilogy with Brian Eno (the other releases being Low and Lodger). Heroes continued the ambient experiments of Bowie's previous album Low (released earlier that year) and featured the contributions of guitarist Robert Fripp. The album was later named NME Album of the Year.

1988 - Def Leppard

Def Leppard became first act in chart history to sell seven million copies of two consecutive LPs, with Pyromania (their third studio album released in 1983) and Hysteria, (which became the band's best-selling album to date, selling over 20 million copies worldwide, and spawning six hit singles).

1990 - Leonard Bernstein

Multi-Emmy and Grammy award-winning American composer, pianist and conductor, Leonard Bernstein died of pneumonia. Composed music for the 1957 musical 'West Side Story', and 'On The Waterfront'. Bernstein conducted the New York Philharmonic aged 25 and wrote three symphonies, two operas, five musicals, and numerous other pieces.

1996 - The Rolling Stones

28 years after its creation, The Rolling Stones' Rock & Roll Circus was finally released. The 1968 event put together by The Stones comprised two concerts on a circus stage and included performaces by The Who, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull and Jethro Tull. John Lennon and Yoko Ono performed as part of a supergroup called The Dirty Mac, along with Eric Clapton, Mitch Mitchell and Keith Richards. It was originally planned to be aired on BBC TV.

2004 - Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton was suspended from driving in France after being caught speeding at 134mph in his Porsche 911 Turbo near Merceuil. He was given a 750 euro (£515) fine and his UK licence was confiscated. After paying his fine Clapton posed for photographs with French police and then left the scene in his Porsche - with his secretary behind the wheel.

2006 - Freddy Fender

Freddy Fender, the Tex-Mex singer died of complications from lung cancer at the age of 69. Known for standards as ‘Before the Next Teardrop Falls’ (US No.1 in 1975) and ‘Wasted Days and Wasted Nights’.

2007 - TI

US rapper TI was arrested and charged with weapons offences just hours before he was due to perform and collect two awards at the BET Hip-Hop gala in Atlanta. The 27-year-old was arrested in a car park on suspicion of collecting machine guns and silencers bought for him by his bodyguard. His award for CD of the Year was accepted by rapper Common, who jointly won the prize with TI.

2008 - Ray Lowry

Illustrator and rock cartoonist Ray Lowry died. He contributed illustrations for NME, Punch, Private Eye and The Guardian and designed the artwork for The Clash album London Calling.

2009 - Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney was named Songwriter of The Year at the 29th Annual ASCAP Awards in London, England. The awards presentation honored songwriters and publishers of the most performed works in the US during 2008.

2014 - Isaiah "Ikey" Owens

Isaiah "Ikey" Owens the American keyboardist known for his work with The Mars Volta, Jack White and an array of bands from the Long Beach music scene died aged 39. Owens was found dead due to a heart attack in his hotel room in Puebla, Mexico.

2020 - Post Malone

Post Malone won nine awards including top artist at the 2020 Billboard Music Awards held at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. While many artists performed in person, there was no live audience. Due to the delay, the show mostly celebrated hits from last year, with Lil Nas X taking home four prizes for his hit single ‘Old Town Road’. There were also victories for the likes of Billie Eilish, Kanye West and Cardi B.

Born Today In Music

October 14th

1930 - Robert Parker

American R&B singer and musician Robert Parker. He was best known for his 1966 hit, 'Barefootin'' He played with most of New Orleans' musicians, including Fats Domino, Irma Thomas, and Huey "Piano" Smith. Parker died on 19 Jan 2020 ahe 89. 

1940 - Cliff Richard

Cliff Richard, (Harry Webb). Britain's most successful solo artist, his first hit was in 1958 the UK No.2 single 'Move It', then 1959 UK No.1 single 'Living Doll' and 1979 UK No.1 single 'We Don't talk Anymore', plus over 100 UK Top 40 hits). He once worked as a clerk at Fergusons TV factory.

1942 - Billy Harrison

Billy Harrison, guitarist with the Northern Irish band Them who had the 1965 UK hits 'Baby, Please Don't Go' and 'Here Comes The Night' with Van Morrison on lead vocals. Morrison quit the band in 1966 and went on to a successful career as a solo artist.

1945 - Colin Hodgkinson

Colin Hodgkinson, bass, Whitesnake, (1987 US No.1 & UK No.9 single 'Here I Go Again').

1946 - Dan McCafferty

Dan McCafferty, from Scottish hard rock band Nazareth, who had the 1973 UK No.9 single 'Broken Down Angel', and the 1976 US No.8 single, 'Love Hurts'.

1946 - Justin Hayward

Justin Hayward, songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist with English rock band The Moody Blues who had the 1965 UK No.1 & US No.10 single 'Go Now' and the hits singles including 'Go Now', 'Nights in White Satin' and 'Question'.

1948 - Ivory Tilmon

Ivory Tilmon, Detroit Emeralds, (1973 UK No.7 single 'Feel The Need In Me').

1948 - Marcia Barrett

Marcia Barrett, from German vocal group Boney M, who had the 1978 UK No.1 & US No.30 single 'Rivers Of Babylon' and with more than 150 million records sold, they are one of the best-selling artists of all time.

1952 - Chris Amoo

Chris Amoo, from British soul group The Real Thing, who had the 1976 UK No.1 single 'You To Me Are Everything'.

1958 - Thomas Dolby

Thomas Dolby, solo, (1984 UK No.17 single 'Hyperactive'), Also member of Camera Club, Lene Lovich band, as a producer worked with Joni Mitchell and Prefab Sprout.

1959 - Anthony Jude Pero

Anthony Jude Pero, drummer, Twisted Sister, (1983 UK No.18 single 'I Am, I'm Me', 1984 album 'Stay Hungry'). Pero died from an apparent heart attack on March 20th 2015.

1965 - Karyn White

Karyn White, singer, (1991 US No.1 single 'Romantic', a No.23 hit in the UK).

1972 - Nick Fyffe

English bassist Nick Fyffe, who has worked with with Jamiroquai, The Shapeshifters, Robert Plant, Deep Purple and Bruce Dickinson

1974 - Natalie Maines

Natalie Maines, singer, songwriter, Dixie Chicks. With sales of 27.2 million albums in the US alone, they have become the top selling all-female band and biggest selling country group in the US during the Nielsen SoundScan era (1991–present).

1975 - Shaznay Lewis

Shaznay Lewis, singer from British girl group All Saints, who had the 1998 UK No.1 and US No.4 single 'Never Ever'. The group's debut album, All Saints (1997), went on to become the third best-selling girl group album of all time in the UK.

1978 - Usher

Usher, singer, (1998 UK No.1 single 'You Make Me Wanna', 1998 US No.1 single, 'Nice & Slow'. His 2004 album Confessions sold over a million copies in the US in its first week of release, selling the greatest amount of records in one week for any R&B artist). To date, his worldwide sales stand at 43 million albums and 75 million records overall, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time