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Today in Rock History – June 10

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1966, Steve Marriott of The Small Faces collapsed while performing on UK TV show Ready Steady Go! The group were forced to cancel the following week’s gigs.

1966, Big Brother & the Holding Company perform with their new lead singer, Janis Joplin, for the first time.

1967, In Woodstock, N.Y., Bob Dylan and the Band begin to record what will become known as The Basement Tapes.

1967, Pink Floyd played at the Nautilus Club, South Pier, in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England.

1969, The Byrds, the Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Smokey Robinson, and Dionne Warwick performed at California’s Fantasy Faire and Magic Mountain Music Festival.

1969, Pink Floyd played at Ulster Hall, in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

1969,  Gary Lewis & the Playboys appeared on The Tonight Show.

1970, The Who appeared at Mammoth Gardens in Denver, Colorado.

1971, A crowd gets so excited during a performance by Jethro Tull in Denver that police fire tear gas on them.

1972, Sammy Davis Jr started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with “Candy Man,” his only US No.1. The song was taken from the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

1972, The Rolling Stones double album Exile On Main Street went to No.1 on the album chart, the bands seventh chart topping album. On the same day, they performed at the Pacific Terrace Center, Long Beach, California.

1972, Led Zeppelin played at Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York. Tickets were $5 and $6 (£3.33 and £4.) arlier this day, members of Led Zeppelin, Peter Grant and Richard Cole attend Elvis Presley’s afternoon concert at Madison Square Garden.

1973, Wet Willie, the Allman Brothers Band,and  The Grateful Dead,  played at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC.  The Allmans joined the Dead onstage for the third set of their show for It Takes A Lot To Laugh It Takes A Train To Cry, That’s Alright Mama, Promised Land, Not Fade Away > Goin’ Down the Road Feeling Bad > Drums > Not Fade Away, Johnny B. Goode.

1974, The Who began a four-night sold-out run at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

1975, The Eagles release One of These Nights.

1975, Aerosmith appeared at Brown County Arena, Green Bay, Wisconsin.

1976, At Seattle’s Kingdome, Paul McCartney & Wings play for a crowd of 67,100, setting an indoor attendance record.

1976, Yes played at the Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island.

1977, Joe Strummer and Nicky Headon from The Clash were each fined £5 ($8.50) by a London court for spray-painting “The Clash” on a wall.

1977, Led Zeppelin played the third of six nights at Madison Square Garden in New York.

1979, Van Halen played at the Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana.

1980, Rush performed at the Apollo Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland.

1981, ZZ Top appeared at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

1981, Bob Dylan headlined at Poplar Creek Music Theatre, Hoffman Estates, Illinois (outside of Chicago.)

1982, Addie Harris from The Shirelles died of a heart attack after a show in Atlanta. 1961 US number one and UK number four single “Will You Love Me Tomorrow.” They became the first all girl group to have a number one single on the Billboard Hot 100.

1982, Eric Clapton performed at the Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, Michigan.

1986, Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead went into a five day diabetic coma, resulting in the band withdrawing from their current tour.

1991, Nirvana and Dinosaur Jr kicked off an 8-date tour at the Gothic Theater in Denver.

1993, Irish singer Sinead O’Connor took out a full-page ad in the Irish Times asking the public to “stop hurting me please.” She blamed her troubles on abuse she suffered as a child. O’Connor was still being criticized for ripping up a picture of the Pope during an appearance on Saturday Night Live the previous October.

2001, Radiohead went to number one on the UK album chart with Amnesiac. The band’s fifth studio album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 and produced three singles, “Pyramid Song,” “I Might Be Wrong,” and “Knives Out.”

2004,  Ray Charles died at age 73. Glaucoma rendered Charles blind at the age of six. He scored the 1962 UK and US number one single “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” plus over 30 other US Top 40 singles and the 2005 US chart topping album Genius Loves Company. Charles was also the winner of 17 Grammy Awards. Ray was married twice, and fathered twelve children by nine different women appeared in the 1980 hit movie, The Blues Brothers. Also, he was portrayed in a feature film starring Jamie Foxx.

2006, The surviving members of Led Zeppelin met at a secret rehearsal space in England to run through songs for the forthcoming 02 Arena benefit tribute to Atlantic Records co-founder, the late Ahmet Ertegun. It was the first time the three members had been in the same room with instruments since their four-song set at Led Zeppelin’s 1995 induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

2007, The Rolling Stones played their first UK festival in over 30 years when they appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival. The Stones arrived at the Isle of Wight on their own privately chartered ferry for their 200-strong entourage including five Winnebago trailers and private security team. The Stones last UK festival appearance was Knebworth Fair in 1976

Born on June 10: Howlin’ Wolf (1910); Judy Garland (1922); Shirley Owens, The Shirells (1941); Rick Price, The Move (1944); Kim Deal, Pixies (1961); Jimmy Chamberlin, drums, Smashing Pumpkins (1964)

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Today in Rock History – April 28

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1966, The Kinks appeared at the Mecca Ballroom, Nottingham, England.

1966, The Young Rascals topped the Pop charts with  “Good Lovin’.” This is the first of three number one songs for group, which later records as just The Rascals.

1966, The Who perform at The Witchdoctor at the Savoy Room in Catford, England.

1967, Pink Floyd performed at the Tabernacle Club, Hillgate, Stockport, England.

1967, Johnny Cash appeared at the Burlington Auditorium in Burlington, Iowa.

1968, The Broadway musical Hair opened at the Baltimore Theatre in New York City. The musical’s profanity, its depiction of the use of illegal drugs, its treatment of sexuality, its irreverence for the American flag, and its nude scene caused much comment and controversy. The production ran for 1,729 performances, finally closing on July 1st, 1972.

1968, The Mothers of Invention played at the Grande Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan.

1968, Cream performed at the Peabody Opera House in St. Louis, Missouri.

1969, Yes appeared at the Marquee Club, London.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band performed at the State University of New York in Stony Brook.

1971, Hawkwind appeared St. Michels Mount, Penzance, England.

1972, Pink Floyd played at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago.

1973, King Crimson performed at the Academy of Music in New York.

Dark side1973, Pink Floyd’s album Dark Side Of The Moon went to number one on the chart, it went on to enjoy a record breaking 741 weeks, selling over 20 million copies world-wide.

1973, The Faces scored their first number one album with Ooh La La.

1974, Queen appeared at Exposition Hall, Portland, Maine.

1975,  John Lennon appears on The Tonight Show, and Ringo Starr shows up on The Smothers Brothers Show to sing his “No No Song.”

1976, The Rolling Stones played at Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany.

1977, Eric Clapton appeared at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.

1978, Mike Oldfield played the first of two nights at London’s Wembley Arena, England.

1979,  When “Heart of Glass” by Blondie hits number one, Andy Warhol throws a party for the group at Studio 54 in New York.

1979, The Very Best Of Leo Sayer started a three-week run at number one on the UK album chart, giving Sayer his first and only chart topping LP.

1980, The Grateful Dead played at Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham, Alabama.

1980, Marshall Tucker Band bass player Tommy Caldwell died of injures from a jeep car crash in his hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina. The thirty year-old was an original member of the band, and composed several of their songs and played bass, percussion, guitar, and contributed backup vocals.

1981, Steve Currie, former member of T Rex, was killed in a car crash returning to his home near Vale de Parra, Algarve, Portugal, he was 33 years old. Currie joined T. Rex (recently renamed from Tyrannosaurus Rex) as bass guitarist in late 1970, and also worked as a session player, playing on “Motorbikin” by Chris Spedding.

1983, During the second leg of their War North American tour, U2 appeared at the Rochester Institute Of Technology Ice Rink, Rochester, New York.

1984, King Crimson appeared at Kani Hoken Hall, Tokyo.

1985, Eric Clapton performed at the Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island.

1988, Rush played at Wembley Arena in London.

1990, Guns N’ Roses leader Axl Rose married Erin Everly, daughter of The Everly Brothers Don at Cupid’s Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. They divorced in January 91 after a stormy nine months of marriage.

1990, Sinead O’Connor started a six-week run at number one on the US album chart with I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got.

1999, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

2002, Sugababes scored their first UK chart topping single with “Freak Like Me.” The song was originally sung by American Adina Howard in 1995, and was mixed with the synth line from Gary Numan’s 1979 hit “Are Friends Electric?”

2008, Scott Weiland, singer with The Stone Temple Pilots, was sentenced to 192 hours in county jail for his November 2007 drunk driving conviction. He was also fined $2000 (£1333,) and required to complete an 18-month alcohol program, as well as placed on probation for four years.

2015, Jack Ely died at the age of 71 after a long illness. The Kingman singer’s hit ‘Louie Louie’ reached the top of the charts in 1963 and sparked an FBI investigation into whether or not its lyrics were obscene

Born on April 28: John Wolters, drums, Dr. Hook (1945); Chuck Leavell, American singer-songwriter, keyboards, The Allman Brothers Band, Sea Level (1953); Kim Gordon, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, Sonic Youth, Ciccone Youth, Free Kitten (1953);  Eddie Jobson, English keyboardist,  violinist, Curved Air, Roxy Music, U.K., Jethro Tull (1955);  Phil King, English bass player, Lush, The Jesus and Mary Chain (1960) Scott Putesky, aka Daisy Berkowitz, American guitarist, Marilyn Manson, Jack Off Jill (1968); Howard Donald, English singer-songwriter, producer, Take That (1968); Violent J, American rapper, producer, wrestler, actor, Insane Clown Posse, Dark Lotus,  Psychopathic Rydas (1972)

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Today in Rock History – April 24

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1966, The Who performed at Birmingham Hippodrome in Birmingham, West Midlands, England.

1967, Pink Floyd appeared at Blue Opera Club, held at at The Feathers public house in London, England. A patron threw a penny a Roger Waters resulting in gash to his forehead.

1968,  Keith Moon, drummer with The Who, drove his Lincoln car into a Holiday Inn swimming pool while enjoying a wild birthday party.

1968, The Beatles’ new record label, Apple Records turned down the offer to sign new artist David Bowie. Apple later signed Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, Badfinger, and Billy Preston. Hopkin would go on to score a UK number one single, “Those Were The Days”.

1968, Louis Armstrong was at number one in the UK with the single “What A Wonderful World / Cabaret.” At 69 years of age, it made Armstrong the oldest act ever to score a UK chart topper.

1969, Paul McCartney publicly denies rumors that he is dead.

1969, Led Zeppelin played at Fillmore West in San Francisco. It is a popular bootleg concert.

1970, Grace Slick and Abbie Hoffman leave a White House party without having dosed young Tricia Nixon with LSD as planned. The Jefferson Airplane singer was invited to the bash by Tricia, and took along the outlaw Hoffman as her date. Hoffman was turned away at the gate. Slick went with him.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band performed at the Woodrose Ballroom, Deerfield, Massachusetts.

1971, Crosby Stills Nash & Young went to number one on the album chart with 4 Way Street.

1971, The Grateful Dead appeared at Wallace Wade Stadium, on the campus of Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina.

1972, Pink Floyd played at the Sports Arena, Toledo, Ohio.

1972, John Lennon’s controversial single, “Woman Is the Nigger of the World” was released in the US. The song peaked at number 57, despite virtually every radio station in the country refusing to play it. Yoko Ono said the phrase during a magazine interview in 1967 and Lennon later explained that he was making a point that women deserved higher status in society.

1973, King Crimson appeared at the State Fairgrounds, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

1974, David Bowie releases Diamond Dogs.

1975, Peter Ham, British singer, songwriter with Badfinger committed suicide by hanging himself in the garage of his Surrey home, aged 27. Ham co-wrote “Without You,” with bandmate Tom Evans, who also later committed suicide. The song won an Ivor Novello award for Song Of The Year in 1973, and was a hit for Harry Nilson and Mariah Carey. Ham was a founding member of The Iveys, who later became Badfinger. They were signed to the Beatles’ Apple label. Their first hit “Come And Get It” was written by Paul McCartney.

1976, Led Zeppelin scored their sixth number one album with Presence.

1976, Wings At The Speed Of Sound went to number one on the album chart. Paul McCartney’s fifth solo chart topper after the breakup of The Beatles.

1976, David Bowie performed at Nya Masshallen, Helsinki, Finland.

1976, Paul and Linda McCartney spent the evening with John Lennon at his New York Dakota apartment and watched Saturday Night Live on TV. Producer of the show Lorne Michaels made an offer on air asking The Beatles to turn up and play three songs live. Lennon and McCartney thought about taking a cab to the studio, but decided they were too tired. This was the last time Lennon and McCartney were together.

1977, Pink Floyd performed at Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida.

1978, David Bowie appeared at the MECCA Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1979, Ray Charles’ “Georgia On My Mind” was proclaimed the state song of Georgia. The music to the song was written in 1930 by Hoagy Carmichael who also recorded a version of the song in New York in the same year. Ray Charles, a native of Georgia, recorded it in 1960 on the album The Genius Hits the Road.

1980, ZZ Top performed at the Hammersmith Odeon, London.

1981, New Order started work on their first album at Strawberry studios in Stockport, England.

1982, Ozzy Osbourne appeared at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1983, Bryan Adams, Sammy Hagar, Aerosmith, and Journey performed at the Miami Baseball Stadium.

1987, Deep Purple played at The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1990, The road crew for Roger Waters discovered an unexploded World War II bomb while constructing the set for The Wall concert in Potsdamer Platz, Germany.

1992, David Bowie married Somali born supermodel and actress Iman in Switzerland. Iman first got married at the age of eighteen to a young Somali man. Then, in 1977, she wed American basketball player Spencer Haywood.

1995, Oasis released “Some Might Say” which went on to give the band their first UK number one single.

dixie-chicks-ew-cover2003, The Dixie Chicks launched a publicity campaign to explain their position after the controversy of Natalie Maines’ statement regading the Iraq war. During a prime-time interview with ABC TV personality Diane Sawyer, Maines said she remained proud of her original statement. The band also appeared naked, with private parts strategically covered, on the cover of Entertainment Weekly magazine, with slogans such as “Traitors”, “Saddam’s Angels”, “Dixie Sluts”, “Proud Americans”, “Hero”, “Free Speech”, and “Brave” printed on their bodies.

2007, The Arctic Monkeys sold 85,000 copies of their new album Favourite Worst Nightmare on its first day in UK shops, putting it on course to be the year’s fastest-selling new release.

2012, Sinead O’Connor cancelled the remaining dates of her world tour, saying she was still recovering from a “very serious breakdown”. In a statement on her official website, she said she had scrapped all concerts this year due to her bipolar disorder. Her website was also now being deleted along with her Twitter account.

Born on April 24: Barbra Streisand (1942); Richard Sterban, American singer, The Oak Ridge Boys (1943); St. Clair Lee, Hughes Corporation (1944); Doug Clifford, Creedence Clearwater Revival (1945);  Glen Cornick, Jethro Tull (1947); H. Ann Kelly, The Hues Corporation (1947); Nigel Harrison, British bass player, Blondie, Silverhead (1951); Jack Blades, American bass player, songwriter, Night Ranger, Rubicon, Damn Yankees (1954); Captain Sensible, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, The Damned, Dead Men Walking (1954);  David Jay, Bauhaus, Love & Rockets (1957); Boris Williams, drums, The Cure, Thompson Twins (1957);  Billy Gould, American bass player, songwriter, producer, Faith No More, Fear and the Nervous System, Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine (1963); Paula Frazer, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, Tarnation, Faith No More, Frightwig (1963); Paul Ryder, bass, Happy Mondays (1964); Brian Marshall, bassist, Creed (1974); Tyson Ritter, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor The All-American Rejects (1984)

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Today in Rock History – April 21

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beatles -sgtpeppers1967, Working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles completed the sessions for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The final recordings were a short section of gibberish and noise which would follow “A Day in the Life,” in the run-out groove. They recorded assorted noises and voices, which engineer Geoff Emerick then cut-up and randomly re-assembled, and edited backwards. At John Lennon’s suggestion, they also added a high-pitch 15 kilocycle whistle audible only by dogs. These were omitted from the American version of the album.

1967, The Who appeared at The Dome, Brighton, England.

1967, Jimi Hendrix performed at City Hall in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England.

1967, Pink Floyd played two shows, an early performance at the Starlite Ballroom, in Greenford, and the late show at UFO, held at The Blarney Club, Tottenham Court Road in London.

1969, Janis Joplin made her London debut,  appearing at The Royal Albert Hall,  The opening act was Yes. Her performance earned rave reviews in Disc, Melody Maker, and Telegraph, among others.

1970, Three Dog Night, along with Stone the Crows, played at The Warehouse in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1970, Elton John performs his debut solo gig as a support act for T. Rex in London.  Also on the bill were Spooky Tooth, Jackie Lomax, and Heavy Jelly.

1972, The Allman Brothers Band played at New Haven Arena, New Haven, Connecticut.

1972, David Bowie performs at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England.

1972, Pink Floyd appeared at the Lyric Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland.

1972, The Grateful Dead performed an eighty minute set that was taped for the German TV show Beat Club, in Bremen, Germany.

1973, Alice Cooper went to number one on the album chart with Billion Dollar Babies.

1973, King Crimson played at the Indiana State Fair Coliseum, Indianapolis, Indiana.

1973, Tony Orlando & Dawn started a four week run at number one on the singles chart with “Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree,” It became the biggest seller of 1973, with over 6 million copies sold. The song was based on a true story of a prisoner who wrote to his wife asking her to tie a yellow ribbon around an oak tree in the town square in White Oak, Georgia, if she still loved him.

1974, Genesis appeared at the Montreal University Sports Centre in Montreal, Quebec.  The show was broadcast by CHOM-FM radio, and is a popular bootleg among Genesis fans.

1975, Yes headlined at Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland.

1976, Elvis Presley performed at Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri.

1977, Songwriter Jesse Winchester performs in the U.S. for the first time in ten years. He escaped to Canada a decade ago in order to avoid the draft.

1977, ZZ Top appeared at the Rochester Community War Memorial, Rochester, New York.

1978, The Grateful Dead played at Rupp Arena on the campus of the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.

Sandy Denny (courtesy Rokpool.com)

1978, UK folk singer Sandy Denny died aged 31. While on vacation with her parents in Cornwall, England, Denny was injured in a fall down a staircase. A month after the fall she collapsed at a friend’s home. Four days later she died at the hospital, her death was ruled to be the result of a traumatic mid-brain hemorrhage. She was a member of Fairport Convention and a solo artist. Her 1967 song “Who Knows Where the Time Goes,” was covered by Judy Collins. Denny sang on the Led Zeppelin track “Battle Of Evermore” on the band’s fourth album, the only guest vocalist on a Led Zeppelin album.

1979, Roxy Music played at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, Pasadena, California.

1981, U2 performed at The Decade, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This small club in the Oakland section of town hosted a number of up and coming acts like The Ramones and the Police, as well as impromptu shows from Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi during its heyday.

1982, Clash front man Joe Strummer disappeared for three weeks, which resulted in the group cancelling a tour. The singer was found living rough in Paris, France.

1984, Van Halen appeared at the Colisée de Québec, Quebec City.

1984, Phil Collins started a three week run at number one in the US singles chart with the theme from Against All Odds. It was Phil’s first US chart topper, a number two in the UK.

1990, Paul McCartney played in front of 184,000 fans at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, creating a new world record for the largest crowd attending a rock concert.

1990, Sinead O’Connor started a four week run at number one on the US singles chart with her version of the Prince song “Nothing Compares 2 U.” The track was also a chart topper in 18 other countries. The video was shot in Paris, and consists almost solely of a close-up on O’Connor’s face as she sings the lyrics. Towards the end of the video, two tears roll down her face. The clip won Best Video at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards, the first video by a female artist to win in this category.

2000, Neal Matthews of The Jordanaires died of a heart attack. He sang on Elvis Presley’s “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Hound Dog.” He also worked with Ricky Nelson, Patsy Cline, Red Foley, Johnny Horton, Jim Reeves, George Jones, Marie Osmond, Tom Jones and Merle Haggard.

2002, Oasis went to number one on the UK singles chart with “Hindu Times,” the band’s sixth UK number one and the first single to be released from their fifth album Heathen Chemistry.

2006, The Soul2Soul II Tour,  a co-headlining tour featuring husband and wife country music singers Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, kicked off at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus ending after 73 shows on September 3, 2006 in Las Vegas. The tour became the highest grossing country music tour ever with a sales of $90 million.

2008, American soul singer and songwriter Al Wilson died of kidney failure at the age of 68. Wilson had a number of US hits, including “The Snake” in 1968 and “Show and Tell” in 1974.

2016, American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and music legend Prince, born Prince Rogers Nelson, was found dead in his residence and recording studio complex, Paisley Park, in suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota. Prince was renowned as an innovator, and was widely known for his eclectic work, flamboyant stage presence, and wide vocal range. He was widely regarded as the pioneer of Minneapolis sound. His music integrated a wide variety of styles, including funk, rock, R&B, soul, psychedelia, and pop.

Born on April 21: Alan Wagner, The Foundations (1947); American singer-songwriter, musician and actor James Osterberg, aka Iggy Pop (1947); Mike Barson, keyboards, Madness (1958); Robert Smith, The Cure (1959); Johnny McElhone, Altered Images (1963)

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Today in Rock History – February 26

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1966, The Beatles Rubber Soul was at number one on the album chart, the group’s seventh album chart topper.

1966, Nancy Sinatra went to number one on the US singles chart with “These Boots Are Made For Walking,” also a UK chart topper.
1966, David Bowie & The Buzz appeared at The Corn Exchange, Chelmsford, England.
1966, The Who appear at Gliderdrome Bingo Hall in Lincolnshire, England.

1966, The Rolling Stones release “19th Nervous Breakdown.” It becomes their ninth hit single, reaching number two on the American charts.

1968, The Who return to Los Angeles and Gold Star studios to finish recording and mixing “Call Me Lightning” and “Little Billy.” Prior to this, they head up to the Hollywood Hills for a photo shoot.

1968, Pink Floyd appeared as a last minute replacement for the group Wages of Sin, and performed a gig at the Domino Club, in the Lion Hotel, Cambridge, England.

1969, Yes played at the Marquee Club, London.

1970, Led Zeppelin received a gold disc for Swedish sales of Led Zeppelin II while in Stockholm. Later that evening they performed at the Konserthuset.

1970, Renaissance played at the Ingman Room in the Student Union, University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio

1971, Pink Floyd played a concert at Stadthalle, in Offenbach, Germany.

1972, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Salem Armory Auditorium in Salem, Oregon.

1973, During a 9-date tour of Australia and New Zealand, The Rolling Stones played the first of two nights at the Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney.

1975, Genesis appeared at the Palais des Grottes, Cambrai, France.

1976, David Bowie performed at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.

1977, The Eagles went to number one on the singles chart with”New Kid On Town,” the group’s third chart topper.

1977, Sherman Garnes from Frankie Lymon And The Teenagers, died during open-heart surgery. They had the 1956 UK number one and US number six single “Why Do Fools Fall In Love.”

1977, Bluesman Booker T. Washington “Bukka” White, who composed “Fixing to Die,” is dead in Memphis at age 70.

1979, During a court case between The Sex Pistols and their manager Malcolm McLaren it was revealed that only £30,000 ($51,000) was left of the £800,000 ($1,360,000) the band had earned.

1980, After seeing U2 play at Dublin’s National Boxing Stadium in front of 2,400 people, Rob Partridge and Bill Stewart from Island Records in the UK offered the band a recording contract.

1981, The Grateful Dead performed at the Uptown Theater, Chicago.

1983, Michael Jackson’s Thriller went to number one on the album chart. It went on to become the most successful albums of all time with sales over 50 million copies.

1986, Roger Daltrey appears on the British TV show Saturday Night lip-syncing to “Under A Raging Moon”.

1990, Sinead O’Connor was at number one on the UK singles chart with “Nothing Compares 2 U.” Her version of the Prince-penned song was also a chart topping hit in 18 other countries.

2001, Winners at the Brit Awards included Coldplay, Best British group and Best British album for Parachutes, Robbie Williams, Best British Male artist, and Best single for “Rock DJ.” Sonique, Best British Female artist, and Best Dance act went to Fat Boy Slim, A1 won Best British Newcomer, while Westlife won Best Pop act. Eminem won Best International Male solo artist and U2 won Outstanding contribution to music.

2009, A 10-minute version of The Beatles’ “Revolution 1” was leaked onto the Internet, giving some fans a never-before-heard listen of what the White Album sessions must have been like. Only two copies of the take were made when the song was completed on June 4th, 1968. One copy left the studio with Lennon that day and the other remained behind. It was unclear which copy appeared on the bootleg, nor how anyone acquired it.

2015, The childhood home of  Paul McCartney sold for £150,000 ($231,000) at an auction in Liverpool. McCartney moved into the house, in Western Avenue, Speke, at age four with his parents, Jim and Mary, in 1947, and lived in the three-bedroom house for six years.

Born on February 26: Fats Domino (1928); Johnny Cash (1932); Bob “The Bear” Hite, Canned Heat (1945); Mitch Ryder, The Detroit Wheels (1945); Sandie Shaw, singer (1947); Jonathan Cain, Journey, The Babys, Bad English (1950); Michael Bolton (1953);  Tim Commerford, Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave (1968); Erykah Badu (1971); Nate Ruess, American singer-songwriter, Fun, The Format (1982)

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