9 FEBRUARY
In Music History
1966 Sophie Tucker dies of lung cancer and kidney failure at age 79.
1963 Paul and Paula's "Hey Paula" hits #1 for the first of three weeks.
1963 Country singer Travis Tritt is born in Marietta, Georgia.
1963 Hattie Carroll, a 51-year-old bartender in Baltimore, is killed after a disgruntled patron hits her with a cane. Bob Dylan writes a song about it called "The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll," which appears on his The Times They Are A-Changin' album.
1962 Neil Sedaka records "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do."
1961 The Beatles, with a lineup of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, bass player Stuart Sutcliffe and drummer Pete Best, play the Cavern Club in Liverpool for the first time, earning £5 for the lunchtime gig. They become regulars at the club, where they end up doing 291 more shows.
1959 Lloyd Price's "Stagger Lee" hits #1 for the first of four weeks.
1958 Ratings show that ABC's American Bandstand is now America's top-rated daytime television program, with an average of 8,400,000 viewers per day.
1957 Elvis Presley's "Too Much" hits #1 for the first of three weeks.
1955 Sham 69 frontman Jimmy Pursey is born in Hersham, Surrey, England.
1951 Dennis "DT" Thomas (alto saxophonist Kool & the Gang) is born in Jersey City, New Jersey.
1947 R&B singer Major Harris (of The Delfonics) is born in Richmond, Virginia. He lands his biggest solo hit in 1975 with "Love Won't Let Me Wait."
1947 Country rocker Joe Ely is born in Amarillo, Texas.
1943 Barbara Lewis is born in Salem, Michigan.
1942 Mark Mathis (of The Newbeats) is born in Hahira, Georgia.
The Beatles Play The Ed Sullivan Show
1964The Beatles appear on the Ed Sullivan Show, making their first live US TV appearance.
Read more9 FEBRUARY
Featured Events
2018 At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, four popular Korean artists sing "Imagine" at the opening ceremony, where the theme is "Peace in Motion."More
1981 Bill Haley dies of an apparent heart attack at age 55. With "Rock Around The Clock," Haley had the first big hit of the rock era, but his fortunes faded quickly as the '50s came to an end, and the second half of his life was mired in financial problems and a struggle to regain musical relevance.
1974 At The Palace in Detroit, The Stooges play their last show until their 2003 reunion. An imploding Iggy Pop taunts the crowd, which responds with various projectiles. The opening act is a young band called Aerosmith.More
1972 Beginning a covert university tour where Paul McCartney can play to small audiences, Wings play their first show: an unannounced concert at Nottingham University in England.
1942 Carole King is born Carol Joan Klein in Manhattan, New York City. She meets husband and songwriting partner Gerry Goffin while attending Queens College.More
1939 Barry Mann is born Barry Imberman in Brooklyn, New York City. He teams with wife Cynthia Weil to write a number of classic hits, including "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'."
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