1 APRIL
In Music History
1966 David Bowie's first solo single is released, "Do Anything You Say." It flops.
1961 Rock and roll singer Troy Shondell releases his sole hit, "This Time."
1961 The Beatles begin a grueling gig at Hamburg's Top Ten Club - seven hours a day on weekdays (eight hours on weekends) for three months.
1961 Mark White, guitarist and keyboardist for the English new wave group ABC, is born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England.
1959 Freddy Cannon releases "Tallahassee Lassie," which becomes his first hit. The song is later covered by The Rolling Stones.
1956 Elvis Presley gets his film career going with a screen test at Paramount Studios, where he performs a scene from The Rainmaker. He lands a contract and ends up starring in 31 movies.
1954 Rock drummer Jeff Porcaro (of Toto) is born in South Windsor, Connecticut.
1948 Reggae musician Jimmy Cliff ("The Harder They Come," "Hakuna Matata") is born James Chambers in Somerton District, St. James, Jamaica.
1946 Bass guitarist Ronnie Lane (Small Faces and Faces) is born in Plaistow, London, England.
1945 Rock drummer John Barbata (Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship) is born in Passaic, New Jersey.
1944 Pop singer Frank Gari ("Utopia," "Lullaby of Love") is born Frank Daniel Garofalo in New York City.
1942 Phil Margo is born in Brooklyn, New York. He and brother Mitch will form The Tokens and release the #1 hit "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."
1942 Pop guitarist Alan Blakley (The Tremeloes) is born in Bromley, Kent, England.
1939 Rudolph Isley (of The Isley Brothers) is born in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1934 Country singer-songwriter Jim Ed Brown (The Browns) is born in Sparkman, Arkansas. Aside from forming The Browns with his two sisters, he'll find fame as a solo artist and frequent duet partner of Helen Cornelius ("I Don't Want To Have To Marry You").
YouTube Rickrolls Users
2008On April Fools' Day, YouTube tricks users with the popular bait-and-switch prank called Rickrolling by featuring video links that actually lead to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video. Several other websites have the same idea, creating an unintentional, internet-wide April Fools' joke.
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Featured Events
2020 Dolly Parton makes a $1 million donation to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center to help fund research for a coronavirus vaccine.
2016 Guns N' Roses announce that original members Slash and Duff McKagan are returning to the group to join Axl Rose on the Not In This Lifetime stadium tour of North America. VIP packages (the "Welcome to the Jungle Pit Experience") go for $2,500, which gets you a backstage tour and access to the Paradise City Lounge, but no interaction with the band.
2007 Proving she understands irony just fine, Alanis Morissette transforms the Black Eyed Peas' booty anthem "My Humps" into a mournful piano ballad for April Fools' Day. The accompanying music video debuts on YouTube and becomes a viral sensation, garnering millions of views.More
2006 Spin magazine publishes a review of the Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy, which Axl Rose and his gang have been working on since 1994. It's an April Fool: the album isn't released until 2008.
1996 After blowing through more than $30 million, MC Hammer files for bankruptcy protection.More
1985 It's no joke: David Lee Roth officially leaves Van Halen to start a solo career.
1984 Marvin Gaye is fatally shot by his own father and dies at age 44. An investigation reveals that Marvin had beaten his father, who ends up serving five years' probation for voluntary manslaughter.
1969 After playing on hits for the likes of Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, four session musicians start Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, where they record The Staple Singers, Paul Simon, Rod Stewart and The Rolling Stones.More
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