Pick a Day

18 MAY

In Music History

2020 Country singer Travis McCready holds the first post-pandemic concert at Temple Live in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Fans are spaced out in "pods," required to wear masks, and have their temperatures taken before they are admitted.

2014 Italian-American singer Jerry Vale dies at home in Palm Desert, California, at age 83.

2012 Rihanna makes her big-screen acting debut playing a naval weapons specialist in the action/sci-fi movie Battleship. It earns her a Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress.

2007 Amy Winehouse marries Blake Fielder at a secret ceremony in Miami.

2006 Andy Capps (drummer for Built To Spill) is found dead at age 37 in his Idaho home. No cause of death is given.

2004 Clint Warwick (original bassist for The Moody Blues) dies at age 63 of liver disease.

2004 Jazz drummer Elvin Jones (of The John Coltrane Quartet) dies of heart failure at age 76.

2004 Lenny Kravitz releases his seventh album, Baptism.

2002 The Barry Manilow Ultimate Manilow special airs on CBS.

2001 The movie Shrek is released, reviving the songs "Hallelujah" (sung on the soundtrack by Rufus Wainwright) and "I'm a Believer" (performed by Smash Mouth in the rave-up at the end of the film).

1999 Jamaican record producer Augustus Pablo, known for his influential 1976 album King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown, dies at age 44 of a collapsed lung.

1996 Brad Nowell of Sublime marries Troy Dendekker, the mother of his son, Jakob. He dies of a drug overdose a week later.

1996 Soundgarden perform for the first (and only) time on Saturday Night Live, playing "Pretty Noose" and "Burden In My Hand." Jim Carrey hosts.

1992 Sister Souljah, a rapper associated with the group Public Enemy, is quoted in The Washington Post saying, "If black people kill black people every day, why not have a week and kill white people?" It becomes a big moment in American politics when Bill Clinton denounces the comment, risking support from black voters. Clinton goes on to win the presidential election.

1991 Bananarama release Pop Life, their first album without bandmate Siobhan Fahey, who left the group in 1988 amid tensions over their pop-oriented image. It's also their last release as a trio. Jacquie O'Sullivan replaces Fahey on the album, but leaves later that year due to the press constantly comparing her with the former 'Nana.