24 APRIL
Featured Events
2007 US President George W. Bush is denied a luxury suite at the Imperial Hotel in Vienna when Mick Jagger, in town with The Rolling Stones on a tour, books it first.
1982 Kelly Clarkson is born in Fort Worth, Texas. In 2002 she becomes the first winner of American Idol, and she lives up to the hype, becoming one of the top pop stars of the next two decades.
1979 Ray Charles sings "Georgia On My Mind" at a ceremony where it is named the official state song of Georgia.
1976 With rumors of a Beatles reunion swirling, Saturday Night Live executive producer Lorne Michaels goes on camera to offer the guys $3,000 (union scale) to reunite on the show. Paul McCartney and John Lennon are watching at Lennon's New York City apartment and consider showing up on a lark, but pass up the opportunity.
1975 Pete Ham of Badfinger hangs himself in his London home. 27-year-old Ham, who was the group's lead singer and primary songwriter, was despondent over the business dealings that saw the band's album Wish You Were Here pulled from stores and his income cut off. He leaves behind a pregnant girlfriend who gives birth to a daughter the following month.
1961 Bob Dylan makes his professional recording debut when he plays harmonica on the Harry Belafonte recording of "Midnight Special." Dylan makes $50 for the session.
1942 Barbra Streisand is born in Brooklyn, New York City.More
24 APRIL
In Music History
2017 Ed Sheeran's "Shape Of You" tops Australia's singles chart (ARIA) for the 14th week, breaking the record set by Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" in 1995.
2016 Waitress, a musical about a pregnant woman trying to escape an abusive marriage by winning a pie-baking contest, opens on Broadway. The most popular number is "She Used To Be Mine," which inspires covers from several fans.More
2016 Philadelphia soul singer Billy Paul dies of cancer at age 81. His biggest hit, "Me And Mrs. Jones," was written by the team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. The pair release a statement upon Paul's death saying, "Billy's voice combined both jazz, R&B and soul vocals, making him one the great artists to come out of Philly and to be celebrated worldwide."
2012 The Beach Boys begin their 50th anniversary tour, which reunites Brian Wilson with fellow founders Mike Love and Al Jardine, along with longtime members Bruce Johnston and David Marks.
2011 American Idiot: The Musical, based on Green Day's 2004 album, closes after 422 performances.
2009 Robin Thicke performs his smash hit "Lost Without U" after The Oprah Show on the "Oprah Fridays Live" segment. So many viewers complain about missing the performance that Oprah brings Robin back for an unprecedented repeat performance only one month later.
2008 Jane's Addiction reunite to rock the NME Awards.
2006 Billy Joel becomes the first non-athlete to earn a banner at Madison Square Garden when he sells out the venue for the 12th time on his tour. His #12 hangs alongside retired greats who played in the Garden like Willis Reed, Walt Frazier and Mark Messier.More
2006 Country singer-songwriter Bonnie Owens, former wife of Buck Owens and, later, Merle Haggard, dies at age 76.
2005 After 94 performances, the Broadway musical and Beach Boys tribute Good Vibrations closes.
2003 The Fox TV network airs the 2-hour special The Michael Jackson Interview: The Footage You Were Never Meant to See. The show contains footage of Michael Jackson's home movies, and is the superstar's rebuttal to the documentary Living with Michael Jackson, which aired in February on ABC. In that one, Jackson talks about sharing his bed with children.
2002 Pop singer Jewel breaks a collarbone and a rib when she is thrown from a horse at the Texas ranch of her boyfriend, rodeo star Ty Murray.
2001 R&B singer Al Hibbler ("Unchained Melody") dies at age 85 in Chicago, Illinois.
1996 After being forced to cancel shows, Stone Temple Pilots issue a statement saying that lead singer Scott Weiland has "become unable to rehearse or appear for these shows due to his dependency on drugs. He is currently under a doctor's care in a medical facility." Weiland sees this as a betrayal, and his relationship with his bandmates turns rocky.
1992 David Bowie marries his second wife, the Somalian-born supermodel and entrepreneur Iman, in a private ceremony in Switzerland. The couple relocate to New York City soon after, and in 2000, Iman gives birth to Alexandria Jones - Bowie's second child (his son, the film director Duncan Jones, was born to his first wife, Angela Barnett, in 1971).
Punk Rock Goes To The Desert For Desolation Center
1983With Los Angeles punk rock running afoul of authorities, the Minutemen play a guerilla concert in the Mojave desert, where fans are bussed in. It's the first of a series of "Desolation Center" concerts that are the precursor to Burning Man and other desert music festivals.
Organized by promoter Stuart Swezey, the Desolation Center shows evade authority by eschewing advertising and staying under the radar. The desert concerts are risky (bands bring their own pyro), but in Swezey's view, less dangerous than typical punk concerts held in warehouse clubs where police are likely to bust some heads. Performers at the three Desolation shows include Sonic Youth, Redd Kross and Meat Puppets. Perry Farrell goes to all three; he later stages Lollapalooza in the spirit of Desolation. In 2019, many Desolation participants, including Farrell, appear in a documentary that tells the story.
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