11 APRIL
Featured Events
1983 Dave Mustaine is kicked out of Metallica because of his drug and alcohol addictions. Soon after, he forms Megadeth, which becomes one of the most successful metal bands of the era.More
1981 Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen marries actress Valerie Bertinelli. They separate in 2001 and divorce in 2007. Their son, Wolfgang, goes on to become the bass player in his dad's group.
1970 Fleetwood Mac founding member Peter Green announces he is leaving the group to devote himself to "what God would have me do." After a few member changes, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks join the band for their most successful lineup in 1974.
1964 The Beatles set a new record when 14 of the Top 100 songs on the chart are theirs. "Can't Buy Me Love" is #1 and "Love Me Do" is their lowest at #81.
11 APRIL
In Music History
2022 At the CMT Awards, The Judds reunite for their first TV appearance in 20 years, performing their 1990 song "Love Can Build A Bridge." Earlier that day, the mother-daughter duo also announced a 10-date arena run across the US dubbed "The Final Tour," with Martina McBride as a supporting act.
2020 Bob Dylan, 78, lands his first #1 on a Billboard chart when "Murder Most Foul" tops the Rock Digital Song Sales tally.
2017 Toby Smith, original keyboardist for Jamiroquai, dies at age 46.
2017 J. Geils, guitarist and founding member of J. Geils Band, dies at age 71.
2015 Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel welcome their first child, a son named Silas Randall.
2014 Jesse Winchester dies at age 69 of bladder cancer. He was one of the major singer-songwriters of the "country rock" movement in the early '70s, blessed with an amazing voice but still better known for his songwriting, which resulted in several hits for other "outlaw" country artists.
2011 Chicago blues musician Lacy Gibson dies at age 74 of a heart attack.
2006 Eminem's good friend and D12 bandmate DeShaun "Proof" Holton is shot and killed at age 32 in an altercation at a sketchy nightclub in Detroit.
2006 For the 25-year anniversary reissue of David Byrne and Brian Eno's My Life in the Bush of Ghosts album, the multi-tracks for two songs - "A Secret Life" and "Help Me Somebody" - are made available for download, for fans to remix and upload to the website.
2006 Paul Anka guest stars on "The Real Paul Anka" episode of Gilmore Girls.
2006 June Pointer of The Pointer Sisters dies at age 52 after being hospitalized for a stroke and diagnosed with cancer.
2002 Aretha Franklin and seven other Motown stars are honored with street names in Detroit's new low-income housing project.
2002 Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock are engaged after he proposes to her in the desert outside Las Vegas.
2001 Folk musician Sandy Bull dies at age 60 of lung cancer.
1997 After a 20-year absence, Grand Funk re-forms for a tour that benefits the Bosnian-American Relief Fund, which aids victims of the genocide in Bosnia.
Singin' In The Rain Debuts
1952Singin' In The Rain, starring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and newcomer Debbie Reynolds, is released in the US, but barely makes a splash.
Singin' In The Rain is built around the song catalog of Arthur Freed, a lyricist-turned-producer for MGM musicals who wrote a string of hits with Nacio Herb Brown back in the '20s and '30s. Freed's latest venture was An American In Paris, a Vincente Minnelli-directed musical extravaganza starring Gene Kelly dancing to the songs of George Gershwin. Singin' In The Rain, however, was a tricky proposition for screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green, known for the smash 1944 musical On The Town. The title song was less like an enduring Gershwin standard, and more like a quaint relic – hardly the tune to build a modern musical on. Plus, they were used to choosing songs to fit their story, not the other way around. Comden recalled, "You have to create a whole new story with characters and situations that fit the already existing songs. It's like working backwards." The solution was to create a period piece set in the era of the song's heyday, when Hollywood was transitioning – or stumbling – into talking films. Gene Kelly stars as Don Lockwood, a silent movie star who is desperate to stay relevant in the new era of sound, despite having to deal with prickly leading lady Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen). With the help of a chorus girl (Debbie Reynolds) and his pratfalling best friend (Donald O'Connor), he spins a box-office bomb into a successful musical. "Singin' In The Rain" is the centerpiece of the film, with Kelly splashing through puddles and spinning an umbrella in celebration of Lockwood's sunny future. Soaked to the bone, Kelly managed to pull off the iconic performance while suffering a 103 °F fever in an ever-shrinking wool suit. Other key songs include "All I Do Is Dream Of You," "Good Morning," and the semi-original "Make 'Em Laugh," which was heavily based on Cole Porter's "Be A Clown." Donald O'Connor jumps and flips his way through "Make 'Em Laugh" to the point of physical exhaustion. The actor is bedridden for several days after the song-and-dance routine. While Singin' In The Rain becomes one of the top-grossing films of the year, it only makes a minor splash when it debuts in the wake of An American In Paris's Oscar win for Best Picture. It garners just two Academy Award nominations (Best Supporting Actress for Jean Hagen and Best Musical Score for Lennie Hayton). With the advent of home video (and a twisted rendition by Malcolm McDowell in 1971's A Clockwork Orange), the film continues to gain traction over the ensuing decades and is named one of the greatest movie musicals of all time.
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