1968, Pink Floyd announced founder Syd Barrett had officially left the group. Barrett was suffering from psychiatric disorders compounded by drug use.
1968, Simon and Garfunkel went to number one on the US album chart with the soundtrack of Mike Nichols’ movie The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft. The film boosted the profile of the folk-rock duo and on the strength of the hit single “Mrs. Robinson,” the soundtrack album rose to the top of the charts. In 1996, The Graduate was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
1968, The Troggs played at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.
1968, The Beatles Apple Corps Ltd. record company, management and publishing firm, opened their offices in London.
1969, Bassist Pete Quaife announces that he’s quitting the Kinks.
1969, Led Zeppelin played at the Boat Club in Nottingham, Leicestershire, England.
1970, Hawkwind appeared at Speakeasy Club, London
1971, Carly Simon was introduced to James Taylor after her show at the Troubadour, Los Angeles. The couple married on 3rd November 1972.
1971, Yes performed at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England.
1971, The Rolling Stones launched their own record label, Rolling Stones Records, with Atlantic Records.
1972, Genesis appeared at the Palasport, Belluno, Italy.
1973, Roxy Music @ Green’s Playhouse, Glasgow, Scotland.
1974, Swedish act Blue Swede went to No.1 on the singles chart with “Hooked On A Feeling.”
1974, Billy Joel cracks the top 40 for the first time with “Piano Man.”
1974, The Rolling Stones premiere their concert film Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones at New York’s Ziegfeld Theatre. The band’s famed tongue logo hangs above the venue’s marquee, and the occasion is celebrated with the release of 2,000 white doves into the air. The film is the first-ever to feature a quadraphonic soundtrack.
1974, The California Jam 1 festival took place in Ontario, California, featuring The Eagles, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Earth Wind and Fire, ELP, Black Oak Arkansas and Seals & Crofts. Over 200,000 fans attended.
1975, Rush played at Lisner Auditorium, at George Washington University in Washington, DC.
1977, Led Zeppelin played the first of four nights at the Chicago Stadium. Tickets were $9 and $10
1979, Rod Stewart married actor George Hamilton’s ex-wife Alana Hamilton in Beverly Hills, California.
1979, Van Halen appeared at the Center For the Performing Arts, San José, California.
1980, Rush played at the International Amphitheater in Chicago.
1984, Guitarist Steve Van Zandt announces that he’s amicably leaving the E Street Band to pursue solo projects.
1987, Roger Waters’ lawyers issued a statement that Roger believed himself to be the creative driving force behind Pink Floyd and therefore he would contest the use of the name by anyone else and any former members of Pink Floyd.
1998, Wendy O. Williams former singer of The Plasmatics died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Williams was known for her wild stage theatrics which included blowing up equipment, near nudity and chain-sawing guitars. In January 1981 police in Milwaukee arrested her for simulating sex on stage, later that same year in Cleveland, Ohio Williams was acquitted of an obscenity charge for simulating sex on stage wearing only shaving cream.
1998, American country singer Tammy Wynette died aged 55. She scored 12 hit singles including “Stand By Your Man,” and sold over 30 million records world-wide, married five times and once filed for bankruptcy. Known as the first lady of country music.
2000, An all-star tribute to Joni Mitchell was held at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City featuring performances by Elton John, Bryan Adams, Shawn Colvin, James Taylor, Cyndi Lauper, Richard Thompson, k.d. Lang, and Mary Chapin Carpenter.
2004, Guitarist and singer Niki Sullivan, died suddenly of a heart attack, at his home in Independence, Missouri aged 66. Sullivan was one of the three original members of Buddy Holly’s backing group, The Crickets. He co-wrote a number of his hit songs and sang back-up vocals on 27 of the 32 songs Buddy recorded over his brief career.
Born on April 6: Merle Haggard (1937); Christopher Franke, Tangerine Dream (1942); Tony Conner, Hot Chocolate (1947); and Frank Black, The Pixies (1965)
