17 JULY
In Music History
2023 CMT pulls Jason Aldean's video for "Try That in a Small Town," which shows footage of urban violence and protests. A swirl of controversy follows, sending the song to #1 on August 5.
2014 The short-lived reality show LeAnn & Eddie debuts on VH1. It stars celebrity couple LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian, who made tabloid headlines after they had an affair while married to other people.
2012 The soundtrack album to the film The Dark Knight Rises is released, destined to debut at #8 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. It also scores #10 on the Canadian albums chart. Composer Hans Zimmer becomes an overnight sensation, frequently compared with former golden soundtrack star John Williams.
2011 Wolfmother frontman Andrew Stockdale gets wasted at the Archive Bar in Brisbane, where a local Beatles tribute band is performing. After crashing the stage and drunkenly screeching along to "Let It Be," he refuses to leave and is arrested when police arrive. He spends a night in jail and is fined $350.
2009 Gordon Waller of Peter and Gordon ("A World Without Love") dies of a heart attack at age 64.
2006 Bill Miller (Frank Sinatra's longtime pianist) dies from complications following a heart attack in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
2004 At the end of her show at the Aladdin Hotel in Vegas, Linda Ronstadt dedicates her encore, a cover of the Eagles' "Desperado," to filmmaker Michael Moore, urging fans to go see his current movie, Fahrenheit 9/11. A shocked audience reacts mostly with boos; approximately half walk out on the spot.
1996 The song "Key To My Heart" by the R&B trio Choice appears in the movie Kazaam, starring Shaquille O'Neal as a 5,000-year-old genie. Choice quickly disbands but its stand-out singer, Alecia Moore, goes on to greatness as Pink.
1996 Chas Chandler (bassist for The Animals, Jimi Hendrix Experience) dies of an aortic aneurysm at age 57.
1995 Carole King's Tapestry album is certified Diamond for sales of 10 million in the US.
1987 Keith Richards signs a solo deal with Virgin Records.
1981 Universal Pictures releases the romantic drama Endless Love, starring Brooke Shields. The film is quickly forgotten, but the theme song, a duet by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross, spends nine weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earns Richie an Academy Award nomination for Best Song.
1981 Journey release Escape, their most popular album. The ballad "Open Arms" is the highest charting single, but "Don't Stop Believin'" is the one that endures, becoming one of the biggest songs of all time.
1979 Gary Moore leaves Thin Lizzy in mid-tour; Midge Ure replaces him as lead guitarist.
1976 Luke Bryan is born Thomas Luther Bryan in Leesburg, Georgia. After attending Georgia Southern University and working on his family's peanut farm, he moves to Nashville in 2001 and releases his first album, I'll Stay Me, in 2007.
Lynyrd Skynyrd Finally Make It To Baton Rouge
1991Fourteen years after the deadly crash of Lynyrd Skynyrd's Baton Rouge-bound aircraft, the surviving members of the band, reunited under the name "Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991," return to the Louisiana city to kick off a new tour. Shirts sold for the event read, "Baton Rouge! After 14 years! We're finally here..."
Read more17 JULY
Featured Events
2016 Kim Kardashian posts a video on her Snapchat account of a phone call between Kanye West and Taylor Swift where Kanye recites the line, "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex," from his song "Famous," and she seems OK with it. Swift responds on Instagram by posting, "Where is the video of Kanye telling me he was going to call me 'that bitch' in his song? It doesn't exist because it never happened."More
1993 After two-and-a-half years, the Guns N' Roses Use Your Illusion tour comes to an end at a show in Buenos Aires. It is the last time Axl and Slash share a stage until the 2016 GnR reconciliation.
1975 Bob Marley and the Wailers play a historic concert at London's Lyceum Theater that features the acclaimed Legend version of "No Woman No Cry."
1970 The Guess Who perform at the White House for President Richard Nixon and his royal guests, Prince Charles and Princess Anne. They do not play their hit "American Woman," as they are asked to refrain from performing it "as a matter of taste."
1968 The Beatles' fourth film, the animated fantasy Yellow Submarine, premieres in London. Although the four band members in the picture are voiced by professional actors, the band itself makes a cameo in the finale, leading movie audiences through the song "All Together Now."
1967 Jimi Hendrix plays his eighth and final show as the opening act for The Monkees, which understandably does not go well as Monkees fans want nothing to do with Hendrix.
1959 While under arrest for illegal possession of narcotics, Billie Holiday dies at age 44 at Metropolitan Hospital in New York City, where she has been since June 12. Years of drug and alcohol abuse took their toll on the singer, who suffered from cirrhosis of the liver.
1955 Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California with a parade broadcast live on ABC. Walt Disney introduces their new group of young performers, the Mouseketeers, who star in the upcoming series The Mickey Mouse Club. Annette Funicello is the breakout star.
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