Rock History February 24
1963, The Rolling Stones started a Sunday night residency at The Station Hotel, Richmond, Surrey. The Stones were paid $41 for the gig and played on the first night to a total of 66 people.
1965, The first full day of filming took place for The Beatles movie Help! with the group riding bicycles on location near London Airport, England.
1966, The Who perform at the Victoria Ballroom in Chesterfield, England, without Roger Daltrey, who had come down with laryngitis. Pete Townshend and John Entwistle share the vocals. Beforehand, John and Keith Moon sit in with the opening act, The Fruit Eating Bears.
1967, The Who play two shows at the Palazzetto dello Sport in Bologna, Italy.
1967, Pink Floyd performed two shows on this date. An early show took place at the Ricky Tick Club, at the Thames Hotel in Windsor, and a late show, their regular Friday gig at the UFO, held at the Blarney Club on Tottenham Court Road in London.
1968, Jimi Hendrix, Soft Machine, Eire Apparent, and The Paupers played at CNE Coliseum in Toronto. After the concert, Hendrix reportedly jammed with Robbie Robertson and members of The Hawks, soon to be known as The Band, at an area club.
1969, The Jimi Hendrix Experience played their last ever-British performance when they appeared at the Royal Albert Hall.
1969, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Lafayette Club in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England.
1970, Syd Barrett participated in two recording sessions for the BBC at Maida Vale Studios in London. Playing along with Syd were David Gilmour, and Jerry Shirley on drums.
1972, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.
1972, Genesis performed at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England.
1973, Roberta Flack had her second number one when “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” started a five-week run at the top. The song was written about US singer songwriter Don McLean.
1973, The Byrds made their final live appearance when they played at The Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey. It was their current incarnation of the group, which included Roger McGuinn, Clarence White, John York and Gene Parsons.
1974, Yes appeared at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
1975, Led Zeppelin released their sixth album Physical Graffiti in the UK. Recording sessions had been disrupted when bassist and keyboard player John Paul Jones had proposed quitting the band, supposedly to become choirmaster at Winchester Cathedral, England, although in reality he just needed time to rest after Zeppelin’s demanding tour schedule. The group decided on a double album so they could feature songs left over from their previous albums Led Zeppelin III, Led Zeppelin IV and Houses Of The Holy.
1976, The Eagles Greatest Hits became the first album to be certified platinum by the R.I.A.A. New certification’s represented sales of 1 million copies for albums and two million for singles.
1977, ZZ Top played at Cobo Arena, Detroit.
1978, Bob Dylan performed at Matsushita Denki Taiikukan, Hirakata City, Osaka, Japan.
1979, Rush appeared at the State Fairgrounds Coliseum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
1982, Winners at the Grammy Awards included John & Yoko Album of the year with Double Fantasy, Kim Carnes for Song of the year with Bette Davis Eyes, Quincy Jones won producer of the year, and Sheena Easton best new act.
1982, King Crimson performed at the E J Thomas Auditorium, Akron, Ohio.
1982, The Police won best British group at the first annual Brit Awards held in London. Adam And The Ants won best album for Kings Of The Wild Frontier, Cliff Richard won British Male Solo Artist, and Randy Crawford won British Female Solo Artist. British Breakthrough Act went to The Human League. British Producer was Martin Rushent, and Outstanding Contribution went to John Lennon.
1984, Blue Oyster Cult appeared at the Palace Theatre, Albany, New York.
1992, Kurt Cobain married Courtney Love in Waikiki, Hawaii. The press reported that the couple were expecting a baby on Sept 10th of that year.
2000, Carlos Santana won eight awards at the Grammy Awards. Before the Supernatural album, the guitarist had not had a top ten album since 1981. Sting won two awards, one for best pop album and another for best male pop vocalist. Sir Elton John won the legend award, and Phil Collins the best soundtrack award for Tarzan.
2004, Estelle Axton, who helped create the legendary US soul music label Stax, died in hospital in Memphis, aged 85. Stax was home to Otis Redding, Rufus Thomas, Isaac Hayes and Booker T and the MG’s and the Stax studio, “Soulsville USA” was second only to Motown in its production of soul hits during its 1960s heyday.
2014, Franny Beecher, the lead guitarist for Bill Haley & His Comets from 1954 to 1962, died in his sleep from natural causes. He was 92 years old. He continued to perform with surviving members of the Comets into 2006.
2025, Roberta Flack American singer who topped the Billboard charts with the number one singles “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, “Killing Me Softly with His Song”, and “Feel Like Makin’ Love” died at age 88. No immediate cause was given for her passing. A statement from her rep read, “She died peacefully surrounded by her family. Roberta broke boundaries and records. She was also a proud educator.” Ironically, her second chart topping single reached number one on this very day in 1973.
Born on February 24: Paul Jones, Manfred Mann (1942); Nicky Hopkins (1944); Rupert Holmes, “The Pina Colada Song” (1947); and Lonnie Turner, Steve Miller Band (1947); George Thorogood (1950); Michelle Shocked (1962)
Link to Today in Rock History main page.
Blue Oyster Cult, Bob Dylan, Genesis, Jimi Hendrix, King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Roberta Flack, Rush, The Allman Brothers Band, The Band, The Beatles, The Byrds, The Eagles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Yes, ZZ Top
