5 APRIL
In Music History
1984 Marvin Gaye's funeral takes place in Los Angeles, with Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones and Berry Gordy attending. Gaye died 4 days earlier when he was shot by his father during an argument.
1982 The record industry trade magazine Record World folds after 36 years.
1981 Blues-rock musician Bob "The Bear" Hite (lead singer of Canned Heat) dies at age 38 after snorting a vial of heroin - thinking it was cocaine - given to him by a fan.
1978 Duran Duran play their first live gig, in Birmingham, England. Singer Stephen Duffy leaves the band two years later and is replaced by Simon Le Bon - shortly before the band are signed to EMI records.
1977 David Bowie and Iggy Pop perform together on Dinah Shore's daytime show on NBC.
1975 Minnie Riperton's "Lovin' You," with the most famous high note of the '70s, is the #1 hit in America.
1974 The Guess Who host a celebrity tennis tournament in Toronto to benefit Ballet of Canada.
1973 Singer/superproducer Pharrell Williams is born in Virginia Beach, Virginia. As half of the hip-hop production duo The Neptunes, he's a prime architect of the popular music landscape of the 2000s.
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1971 Chicago is the first American rock band to perform at Carnegie Hall.
1969 The Guess Who's "These Eyes" enters the Billboard singles chart.
1968 Singer-songwriter Paula Cole, known for the 1997 hit "Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?," is born in Rockport, Massachusetts.
1967 Elvis Presley's 24th movie, Double Trouble, premieres in Hollywood.
1967 Monkees fans march in London in protest of band member Davy Jones' announced induction into the Army. The teen heartthrob is eventually exempted from duty for being his family's main provider.
1966 Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready is born in Pensacola, Florida. One of his most notable songwriting contributions to the band is "Given To Fly" from 1998, a song that represents a period of renewal.
1965 "Chim Chim Cher-ee," composed by The Sherman Brothers for the Disney musical Mary Poppins, wins the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
James Brown Quells Riots In Boston
1968With tensions high the night after Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated, James Brown goes ahead with his concert at the Boston Garden, agreeing to televise the show to help keep calm in the city.
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Featured Events
2017 At age 73, Barry Manilow comes out as gay.More
2008 Leona Lewis hits #1 in the US with "Bleeding Love." It's the first American hit for Lewis, who won the UK version of The X Factor in 2006. The song was written by Ryan Tedder and Jesse McCartney, and intended for McCartney.
2005 On the eleventh anniversary of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain's suicide, his hometown of Aberdeen, Washington adds the phrase "Come As You Are" to its welcome sign.More
2002 Alice In Chains frontman Layne Staley dies after overdosing on heroin and cocaine. The 34-year-old singer had fallen into addiction and lost most contact with the outside world. His body isn't discovered until two weeks later, when police enter his apartment on April 19 after friends and associates report him missing.
1994 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana kills himself with a shotgun at age 27. His body isn't discovered until three days later when an electrician enters to install an alarm.
1964 The Beatles film the famous opening scene from their first movie, A Hard Day's Night, running away from several rabid female fans at London's Marylebone train station.
1961 On The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet episode "A Question of Suits and Ties," Ricky Nelson sings "Travelin' Man" in what could be considered the first music video.More
1923 Joe Oliver and King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band, featuring a young Louis Armstrong, make the first jazz recordings by an African American band at Gennett Records in rural Richmond, Indiana.More
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