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Featured Events
2015Elvis Presley is granted the honor of a second postage stamp bearing his likeness (the first was introduced in 1993). This one features a black-and-white photograph by William Speer of Elvis in 1955 and is part of the Music Icon series that began in 2013.More
1999The Kiss-produced movie Detroit Rock City, the story of fans on their way to a Kiss concert, opens nationwide.
1991Metallica release their fifth album, which is self-titled but commonly known as The Black Album. It goes to #1 in eight countries, including America, where it sells 16 million copies.
1984Lionel Richie performs his hit song "All Night Long (All Night)," with special lyrics written for the occasion, at the closing ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. One of his backing dancers is a young Cuba Gooding Jr.
1982The "Performance Video" exhibition opens at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The exhibition, which explores how musicians present their work in "the shallow focal area directly in front of the video camera," includes the music videos for "Mickey" by Toni Basil and "Once In A Lifetime" by Talking Heads.
1978After years on the road and substantial chart success, The Commodores finally get their first #1 hit with the Lionel Richie-penned ballad "Three Times a Lady," which is taken from their album Natural High. The single stays at #1 for two weeks.
1970At Harvard, Janis Joplin performs what will be her final concert, ending with a version of Gershwin's "Summertime."
12
In Music History
201566-year-old Billy Joel becomes a father for the second time when his fourth wife, Alexis, gives birth to a baby girl, Della Rose.
2014Lauren Bacall, the last living film star mentioned in Madonna's song "Vogue," dies at age 89.
2009Les Paul, a popular electric guitarist whose inventions and techniques were key to the development of the instrument, dies of complications from pneumonia at age 94.
2008Metallica release "The Day That Never Comes," the lead single from their ninth studio album, Death Magnetic.
2008The man who shot and killed John Lennon, Mark David Chapman, is denied parole for the fifth time.
2008The Jonas Brothers' A Little Bit Longer, featuring the hit single "Burning Up," debuts at #1 in America.More
2001Shania Twain and her husband/producer Mutt Lange welcome a baby boy, Eja (pronounced "Asia").
1997Blues guitarist Luther Allison dies of cancer at age 57 in Madison, Wisconsin.
1997Backstreet Boys issue their self-titled debut album in America, where it goes on to sell over 14 million copies. The album was released to international markets a year earlier.
1997MTV debuts the Fleetwood Mac reunion concert The Dance, marking the first time the five had been on stage together since 1982.
1996In Buffalo, New York, Radiohead start a run of 13 shows opening for Alanis Morissette. They use their time to road test songs like "No Surprises" and "Paranoid Android," which appear on their next album, OK Computer.
1996With ska booming in America, Time magazine runs an article titled "It's a Ska World After All." Sublime, No Doubt and 311 all have albums on the chart.
1992Composer John Cage dies of a stroke at age 79 in Manhattan, New York.
1989The Rolling Stones play a surprise set at the 700-capacity Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut, 19 days before the official start of their Steel Wheels Tour.More
1989Richard Marx lands his third consecutive US #1 as "Right Here Waiting" hits the top spot. The song is a love letter to his wife, the actress Cynthia Rhodes, who was away shooting a film when he wrote it.
Woodstock: The Sequel
1994Woodstock 2 - officially "Woodstock '94" - begins in Saugerties, New York, with Sheryl Crow, Todd Rundgren and Violent Femmes performing. The festival is a success, drawing a crowd of about 350,000.
On the 25th anniversary of the Woodstock festival, over 50 bands converge on Winston Farm to celebrate the countercultural touchstone with a massive blowout. Music has changed a lot since 1969 when earthy singer-songwriters captured the tumult of the Civil Rights Era and the injustice of the Vietnam War during four rainy days of rock 'n' roll. The commemoration has something for everybody: Green Day and Nine Inch Nails for alt rock fans, Salt-N-Pepa for the hip-hop crowd, Metallica for metal heads, and newcomer Sheryl Crow and pop-friendly Irish rockers The Cranberries for pop lovers. Plenty of Woodstock alumni come bearing nostalgia, with Joe Cocker reprising his original performance with the throwback "With A Little Help From My Friends." What '94 doesn’t have, says critics, is the cultural cachet of the '69 festival, where peace was more than a tagline to entice ticket sales. Back then, ticket prices were $18 each if you weren't one of the many gatecrashers. This time around, they're $135 a pop and must be bought in pairs. If you can't attend, you can always order the show on pay-per-view for $49. As for food, the original hippie crowd was fed boiled bulgur wheat with honey and handfuls of dried fruit and nuts; modern festival-goers eat Haagen Dazs and slurp Pepsi. The ice cream and soda giants are the festival's biggest sponsors, along with Apple Computer (which provides an official CD-ROM). With a $30 million price tag, the event is the very symbol of corporate greed that the original Woodstock performers were fighting against, detractors point out. Several artists, including Pearl Jam and Neil Young, stand by that reasoning and refuse to attend. But it's not all bad. "I feared after I committed to do it that it would be a corporate nightmare, with a Pepsi logo behind the Woodstock thing," Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor told MTV. "But from being here, I've got a pretty good vibe. And I'm pleased to see that it turned out to be so far a pretty positive thing for the fans that came here to see us." Billed as "2 More Days of Peace and Music," Woodstock '94 turns into three days in the mud and the muck, dirtying up a list of squeaky clean rules and regulations attendees are supposed to follow: no alcohol, no outside food or beverage, no camcorders, no money (only special festival currency is accepted). The weather conditions, which earn the concert the nickname "Mudstock," and the unexpected droves of fans sneaking in drugs and beer could spell disaster for the unprepared security team, but – aside from some mudslinging from Green Day fans – the event really does live up to its promise of peace and music. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the next Woodstock bash: '99 is a notoriously volatile affair, plagued by violent brawls, rape, and fires.
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