29
Featured Events
2005Hurricane Katrina pounds New Orleans. One of the victims is Barry Cowsill of The Cowsills, who dies by drowning at age 50. Fats Domino, 77, survives after he is rescued from his home in the Ninth Ward.
2004"Hey Ya!" wins Video of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards, one of four wins for Outkast on the night. The show also marks the first red carpet appearance for Jay-Z and Beyoncé as a couple.
1994Oasis release their debut album, Definitely Maybe. The record goes on to sell over a million copies in the US, spearheading a second British Invasion, but for now the band remain unknown outside of the UK.More
1986Madonna stars in the movie Shanghai Surprise, which bombs at the box office and is pilloried by critics. The film is produced by George Harrison's production company, HandMade Films. He says of the star, "She doesn't have a sense of humor, which is unfortunate, because it was a comedy."
1966The Beatles play their last paid concert, wrapping up their tour at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Jaded by poor sound systems and the rigors of the road, they turn their attention to studio work.More
1958Michael Jackson is born in Gary, Indiana.
29
In Music History
2021Lee "Scratch" Perry, a transgressive reggae musician who produced albums for Bob Marley, The Clash, and many others, dies at 85.
2013Fergie and her husband Josh Duhamel have their first child: a boy named Axl. She says the name came to her in a dream where she was watching Axl Rose perform.
2011Delta bluesman David "Honeyboy" Edwards dies of congestive heart failure in Chicago, Illinois, at age 96.
2009Two months after Michael Jackson's death on what would have been his 51st birthday, 13,597 people in Mexico City perform the Thriller dance, establishing a new Guinness World Record.
2006Rockabilly singer/songwriter Jumpin' Gene Simmons dies after a long illness in Tupelo, Mississippi, at age 73.
2004Jet take home the award for Best Rock Video for "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" at the MTV Video Music Awards and perform the song live during the strangely un-hosted ceremony at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida.
1999HBO premieres Cher: Live In Concert From Las Vegas. The singer performed at the sprawling MGM Grand Las Vegas, the second largest hotel in the world (by number of rooms).
1998Country/rockabilly musician Charlie Feathers dies of complications from a stroke-induced coma in Memphis, Tennessee, at age 66. Known for '50s hits like "Peepin' Eyes."
1995The US Internal Revenue Service places a lien on Aretha Franklin's home for $600,000 in back taxes.
1994During the Meat Puppets set opening for Stone Temple Pilots at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, the famous DJ Howard Stern joins them on stage to jam on "Lake of Fire."
1993Liam Payne of One Direction is born in Wolverhampton, England.
1980UB40 release their seminal debut, Signing Off. It climbs to #2 in the UK, becoming the first reggae album to reach those heights. In 2010, to mark the group's 30th anniversary and Signing Off's far-reaching influence, the band performs the record in its entirety during a series of intimate concerts across the UK.
1980David Desrosiers (bassist for Simple Plan) is born in Sept-Îles, Quebec, Canada.
1976At a concert in Santa Monica, California, Neil Young joins Firefall on stage, who are opening for Spirit. When the headliners take the stage, Spirit's bass player asks Young to join them, but when he does, Spirit's frontman Randy California pushes him off the stage to the horror of his bandmates, who stop playing and leave.
1976Bluesman Jimmy Reed dies of respiratory failure in Oakland, California, at age 50. Known for hits like "Ain't That Lovin' You Baby" (1956) and "Bright Lights, Big City" (1961).
Fans Respond To Clapton's Racist Rant
1976The British music magazine Sounds publishes letters responding to Eric Clapton's racist rant at his Birmingham concert earlier in the month. "Own up, half your music is black," one of them states. "You are rock music's biggest colonist." This particular missive includes a call to action with an address to join Rock Against Racism, "A rank and file movement against the racist poison in rock music." Rock Against Racism soon becomes a viable movement, holding a series of concerts and festivals in support of tolerance.
Another letter points out the hypocrisy of British musicians going into tax exile to avoid paying their dues in their home country: "Clapton talks about 'foreigners' in our country. Well who do you think are the 'foreigners'? The British of Asian descent who pay their taxes like the rest of us? Or the rock stars, who like Clapton and Bowie, live in the USA so they don't have to pay tax on the profits they make from the money they screw out of their fans with exorbitant record and concert prices?"
No comments:
Post a Comment