10 APRIL
Featured Events
2007 The Hendersonville, Tennessee, house once owned by Johnny Cash burns to the ground. It had been purchased after Cash's death by Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees, who planned to renovate it.
1998 Three days after being arrested in a Los Angeles park for lewd conduct, George Michael comes out as gay in an interview with CNN. "I have no problem with people knowing that I'm in a relationship with a man right now," he says.
1985 Madonna begins her first tour, the Virgin Tour, in Seattle. Her opening act is a petulant, little-known white rap trio called the Beastie Boys, which gets booed throughout their set.
1976 Peter Frampton's album Frampton Comes Alive! hits #1 in the US, where it stays for 10 non-consecutive weeks, more than any other album in 1976.
1970 In publicity materials released to promote his first solo album, Paul McCartney indicates that he's done with The Beatles.More
1970 At one of the band's last concerts, in Boston, Doors frontman Jim Morrison asks the audience if they'd like to see something of his "that rhymes with 'sock,'" and then, more bluntly, screams "Would you like to see my genitals?" The power in the stadium is switched off, and keyboardist Ray Manzarek pulls the singer, already facing similar charges from a Miami gig, off the stage.
1969 Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin's steamy duet "Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus" hits #1 in the UK, where it's banned by the BBC.More
1962 Stu Sutcliffe, original bass guitarist for The Beatles, dies at age 21 of a brain aneurysm.
1956 Performing to an all-white audience at a segregated show in Birmingham, Alabama, Nat King Cole is attacked by four members of the Ku Klux Klan who rush the stage to assault him. Cole suffers a back injury and is treated at the hospital, but returns that night to play his second show, this time to an all-black audience. The attackers receive the maximum sentence of 180 days in jail.
10 APRIL
In Music History
2012 Robin Gibb's orchestral production Titanic Requiem (released to mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of The Titanic) premieres in London.
2009 Blues musician Rocky Hill dies at age 62 of undisclosed medical complications.
2007 Jazz singer Dakota Staton, known for the 1957 hit "The Late, Late Show," dies at age 76.
2004 Two months after her "wardrobe malfunction" at the Super Bowl, Janet Jackson hosts Saturday Night Live and is also the musical guest.
2003 Country singer Noel Fox (of The Oak Ridge Boys) dies at age 63, days after suffering a massive stroke.
2003 Pop singer Little Eva dies at age 59, 18 months after being diagnosed with cervical cancer.
2002 South Carolina Governor James Hodges declares James Brown the state's "Godfather Of Soul."
1999 The all-star tribute concert Here There and Everywhere: A Concert For Linda is held at London's Royal Albert Hall, where Paul McCartney, George Michael, Chrissie Hynde (of The Pretenders), Elvis Costello and Sinead O'Connor raise money for animal charities while remembering Paul's wife Linda, who has recently succumbed to breast cancer.
1998 The romantic drama City of Angels premieres in theaters, starring Nicolas Cage as an angel who gives up eternal life to be with a mortal woman (Meg Ryan). The soundtrack features Alanis Morissette's "Uninvited" and the Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris." Both songs were written specifically for the film.
1998 Cleveland radio disc jockey Eddie O'Jay, a pioneer of R&B radio who inspired The O'Jays' moniker and became their manager, dies at age 73.
1995 Lee Greenwood and wife, Kim, welcome a baby boy, Dalton Lee, in Nashville.
1992 Brash stand-up comedian Sam Kinison, who also appeared in several music videos ("Bad Medicine," "Kickstart My Heart," "Wild Thing"), dies at age 38 when his car is hit by a teenage drunk driver.
1991 Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits guest stars as a rock star on the "Glitter Rock - April 12, 1974" episode of Quantum Leap.
1990 A Tribe Called Quest release their debut album, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, drawing comparisons to the mellow grooves of De La Soul. It doesn't do much damage on the charts but ages well, with the songs "Can I Kick It?" and "Bonita Applebum" earning a place as hip-hop classics.
1990 Public Enemy release their highly anticipated third album, Fear Of A Black Planet, with the incendiary lead single "Fight The Power." The album becomes the first in hip-hop history to sell a million copies its first week of release.
Depeche Mode Knocks Whitney From #1
1993Depeche Mode's eighth album, Songs of Faith and Devotion, reaches #1 in America, knocking Whitney Houston's soundtrack from The Bodyguard off the top spot, and holding off challengers Eric Clapton, Kenny G and Sting. Inspired by the grunge scene, the band adds distorted guitars and live drums to their signature synth sound.
Producer Mark "Flood" Ellis, following the formula he used for U2's Achtung Baby (1991) - persuades the band to cohabit in a studio-equipped house for the duration of the album sessions. Instead of using only synthesizers, recordings of live instruments are cut up and reassembled using computer technology. The process lends the album a dark, claustrophobic quality that matches Martin Gore's tortured lyrics. It's not just the music that has changed. In a sharp switch from his former clean-cut image, singer David Gahan emerges bearded, with shoulder-length hair, and covered in tattoos. In the process of transforming from teen idol to rock star, he has also developed a serious heroin habit. After spending so long in close proximity, tensions have arisen between the band members. In addition to Gahan's drug addiction; songwriter Martin Gore is struggling with alcoholism and keyboard player Andy Fletcher is suffering from depression. Alan Wilder - who joined Depeche Mode in 1982 after the loss of founding member Vince Clark - decides to leave after the Devotional world tour, throughout which he plays live drums. In October, David Gahan collapses on stage during a show in New Orleans after suffering a minor heart attack. His problems with substance abuse culminate in 1996 when he enters rehab after an overdose in Los Angeles leaves him technically dead for two minutes. The event is documented in the song "Barrel of a Gun" from the follow-up album, Ultra (1997).
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