9 APRIL
Featured Events
2018 The chain is broken: Fleetwood Mac announce that Lindsey Buckingham has been fired from the band and will be replaced with Mike Campbell and Neil Finn on their upcoming tour.
1996 The New York Yankees grounds crew dances to "Y.M.C.A." as they drag the field in the fifth inning of their home opener, eliciting roars of approval from the crowd. The routine, with improved choreography, becomes a regular feature at Yankee Stadium.
1994 Heavy metal makes a mark as Pantera's album Far Beyond Driven debuts at #1 in America.
1976 Folk singer-songwriter Phil Ochs commits suicide at age 35 in Far Rockaway, New York City, after a long battle with bipolar disorder and alcoholism.
1973 Queen play the Marquee Theater in London, their first concert since signing with EMI Records.
1965 Bruce Johnston joins The Beach Boys as the permanent replacement for Brian Wilson.
1860 An anonymous vocalist sings "Au Clair De La Lune" to Parisian inventor Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville, who makes the first known and oldest surviving recording of the human voice.More
9 APRIL
In Music History
2021 Hardcore rapper DMX dies at age 50 a week after suffering a massive heart attack. His first five albums all went to #1 in America.
2009 Following a contentious interview where he insults Canadian audiences, Billy Bob Thornton's music career hits a roadblock when he and his band the Boxmasters are booed at their show in Toronto opening for Willie Nelson. The Boxmasters cancel their remaining Canadian dates the next day.More
2009 Philadelphia soul singer Randy Cain (of The Delfonics) dies at age 63.
2008 Elton John plays a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, bringing in about $2.5 million. In 2013, Clinton is honored by the Elton John AIDS Foundation for her support of gay rights.
2004 Weird Al Yankovic's parents, Nick and Mary Yankovic, are found dead of accidental carbon-monoxide poisoning in their Fallbrook, California. The tragedy was caused by using their fireplace with the flue closed.
1999 Bruce Springsteen begins his first tour with the E Street Band since 1988 with a concert in Barcelona. The European leg ends in June, with the first American show in their home turf of New Jersey on July 15. The tour lasts until July 2000, a total of 132 shows.
1999 Faith Hill begins her first headlining tour ("This Kiss") in Minneapolis.
1997 Amidst personal tensions between its band members, Soundgarden announce their breakup, which lasts for 13 years.
1997 Nashville songwriter Mae Axton, co-writer of Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel," dies at age 82 when she has a heart attack and drowns in her hot tub.
1996 Bluegrass duo Gillian Welch and David Rawlings release their debut album, Revival.More
1994 Pearl Jam visit the White House, where they meet with President Bill Clinton. The band push for reforms to rein in Ticketmaster, while Clinton looks for help crafting an official statement on Kurt Cobain, who was found dead the previous day.
1994 Wayne Newton marries his second wife, Kathleen.
1992 "Deep Cover" by Dr. Dre, written for the movie of the same name, is released. It marks the first appearance of Snoop Doggy Dogg, recently signed to Dre's Death Row Records, on a major release.
1988 Soul singer Dave Prater (of Sam & Dave) dies at age 50 in a single-car accident in Sycamore, Georgia.
1988 Billy Ocean's "Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car," from the movie License To Drive, hits #1 in the US. Written by Ocean with superproducer Mutt Lange, it's the last of his three US #1 hits, following "Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run)" and "There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)."
Europop Rules In America With "Dancing Queen"
1977ABBA goes to #1 on the US singles chart with "Dancing Queen," the group's seventh US Top 40 hit and first #1. The song is also a #1 in the UK and 12 other countries.
Before "Dancing Queen," Abba had their fair share of hits in the US, but while the Swedish quartet was sweeping the globe with massive album sales and Top 10 singles - five at once in Australia - their tunes rarely hit the upper echelon on the US charts. The most recent record, "Fernando," petered out at #13. Respectable, but that same song breezed to the #1 slot across the globe. What gives, America? Up to this point, Abba has given the US a name without a face. Without tours or TV appearances, Stateside listeners are largely oblivious to the fact that all these bright Swedish pop records of late come from the same group. To combat the invisibility issue, they show up on a few LA-based programs like Dinah and Midnight Special so they won't be forgotten, but Abba isn't really phased. "We'll wait until there's a demand from the audience," the group's Benny Andersson tells Phonograph Record in 1976. "We could come here as a supporting act, but it takes so much money and so much time to do it the way we want (a 13-piece band and no backing tapes)...We can wait." They don't have to wait too long. Less than six months later, their new single "Dancing Queen" is a #1 hit in the US. The song replicates Phil Spector's lush Wall of Sound and taps into the still-raging disco boom in the country. Plus, there's the novelty of watching the foursome on their TV screens performing in bedazzled jumpsuits - finally, a shiny image to go with a shiny record. Abba has officially conquered the world.
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